


by all means necessary

by fzywood



Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blood, GTA Universe, Gang Violence, Gangs, Gun Violence, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-08-09 17:34:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7810984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fzywood/pseuds/fzywood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>banana bus squad x gang au.<br/>mostly following ohm but chaos ensues, as do near death experiences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_Being in the infamous gang of Los Santos had done many things to Ryan. It started off with learning how to shoot a gun in his old gang to now stealthily getting into buildings and taking out everyone without being noticed. It started off with him living on the streets, scavenging for supplies to now having more money than he needs (which he always spent wisely) and living in a large warehouse. It started off with no family to having a huge one. It started off with no feelings for Bryce to now caring about him more than he should._

 

\--

 

Being born and raised in a good family, Ryan had learned rules and manners that he kept with him his whole life. They were mostly table manners but there were the manners that sometimes applied to real life, the common ones that is. He had grown up with a mom, dad, an older sister, and a little brother. He loved all of them more than anything. As the middle child, he had learned how to deal with being invisible, and being content. He also learned to use that as his advantage, using it to get his little brothers and sisters in trouble. He was a really happy child, then one day, it changed.

That day, three strange men dressed in nice, scarlet red suits had arrived. They wore sunglasses and when Ryan opened the door for them, greeting them with a smile, they barged right in, ignoring his pleads of _wait’s_ and _stop it’s_ . That day, Ryan had lost his family while he hid in fear, praying to not be found. One thing that always stuck out to Ryan is when his dad yelled the name of the gang. _The Pigmies._

That day he had learned new feelings. Anger, a burning hatred, guilt, loss, and more. He lost his happiness as he moved from foster home to foster home, each couple treating him as an outsider. He was fine with it but as soon as he reached 18, he booked it out of the system, erasing his name and past and decided to join the gang who had killed his family.

He was a rookie, absolutely terrible at the beginning compared to everyone. Each member was buff and knew how to fight unlike Ryan, who now was called Ohm. He began to train every day, from early mornings to late nights, training with the dummies, in the fighting pit with opponents who were _so_ much stronger than him. The only reason he never gave up was because he was slowly rising in ranks, getting closer to being the right hand man which he then could easily assassinate the leader and then leave, proud that he could do his family justice. Maybe the other gang members would catch him before he could dash and possibly that would be the end of his line.

At least he would’ve gotten revenge on that bastard.

Slowly, after months and months of getting jobs done quickly and relentless training, he became the right hand man. He had finally made it and now he could get the job done.

Except he couldn’t. The man was always surrounded and when he wasn’t? It was in his office. That’s when Ryan decided that the only time he could take out the boss was on a mission with everyone else.

Weeks had passed before the leader had given everyone the message that they were heading out to secure a drug deal with an overseas company at the dock. Ryan, the whole time on the way there, was grinning wickedly. He knew that this would go terribly wrong. He knew he would be caught and would probably die on the spot.

They arrived at the port and Ryan followed closely behind the leader the whole time, watching his movements (which Ryan had begun to study once he was close enough) throughout the whole deal. Both leaders grinned and shook hands then his leader called everyone to start grabbing the crates and bringing them to the trucks.

Ryan slowly slid his gun into the sleeve of his jacket, his knife securely tightened in his belt just in case, waiting for the right moment to strike. People surrounded the boss and Ryan had to get him alone or get far enough away to get a good hit and run. He had been so lost in thought that he didn’t notice that the leader had walked up and placed his hand on his shoulder.

“S-Sir.” Ryan said immediately, turning to face the man.

“You doing okay Ohm? You’re the youngest recruit we’ve ever had and I can’t help but think of you as my son sometimes… I don’t want to worry, but why aren’t you helping?” Ryan had inched the gun a bit further into his hands, still keeping it in the sleeve of his jacket.

“Aah, s-sorry. I haven’t been feeling well lately so..”

“Why not take a break and see your fami- oh, wait. Sorry Ohm, I didn’t mean t-”

“It’s okay sir.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, where is your family?”

“Six feet under.” Ryan whispered, turning to look at the man who now looked guilty.

_‘Serves him right.’ Ryan thought._

“I-I’m sorry to hear that Ohm. If you don’t mind me asking.. How did they die?”

Ryan took a deep breath, looking down at his feet before turning slowly to his boss, a frightening smile now on his lips. He let out a quiet laugh as he spoke in a chilling tone that sent shivers down his leaders spine.

“By the hands of your men.” Ryan said and quickly pulled the gun out, taking two steps back and placing it a few feet in front of his leader's forehead.

“O-Ohm.. You’re my r-right hand man..”

“And it was a pleasure working for you.” He said quietly, pulling the trigger. Blood burst everywhere, especially onto his face as he began to laugh quietly, the loud noise of a gun being shot catching everyone's attention.

Everyone now looked at him and the leader's dead body lying limp on the ground. Some of the men were even charging at him now. He took a deep breath and pointed his gun at the nearest guy, pulling the trigger once again, causing the random man to stop from the force of the bullet entering his skull and fell onto his back, joining his leader in hell probably.

He heard a loud ringing sound in his ear and dropped the gun to bring both of his hands up to his ears, kneeling onto the ground. He wasn’t sure if it was his knees just being weak or if someone had forced him but now he could see smoke all around him, the distant sound of gun shots surrounding him.

He felt his breath hitch in his chest and he just couldn’t breathe. He tried to take deep breaths but they only came out as quickened, short breaths, The complete opposite of what he wanted. He wondered if this is how he would die, lack of air while kneeling on the ground. What would his parents think of him? His sister? His little brother? He didn’t realize he was crying until throughout all this coldness, he felt a slight warm liquid start to roll down his cheek. He let out a quiet laugh because of how fucking pathetic he is.

The distant sounds of gun shots had stopped and he could hear the loud sounds of boots hitting the old stone slowly come close. He wouldn’t mind accepting this as his last moments. He had really nothing else to live for.

The person had approached him and he looked up to see not only one person, but multiple. There was a man with an owl mask, another male with an old jason mask, a man wearing sunglasses and a normal business suit, and last but not least, a man with a leather jacket and a pig mask.

Who the fuck were these people and how the fuck did they take out a _whole gang_?

“Hello. Are you the famous Ohmwrecker?” One of them asked, Ryan wasn’t sure because they all wore masks (except sunglasses dude so it sure wasn’t him).

“Who’s asking?”

“I am.” The man in the owl mask stated and bent down, grabbing Ryan’s chin with one hand.

“Hello Owl. Isn’t it a bit early for you to be out?”

“Ohm, answer the question or I’ll have Delirious torture the answer out of you.”

Taking a deep sigh and slowly moving his left hand towards his belt right to the knife, he answered. “I am the Ohmwrecker you’re looking for.”

“Ah, nice to meet you Ohm.”

“And you too Owl. Who are your friends?” Ryan asked, glancing at the three guys.

His hand rested on his knife now and he slowly began to tighten his grip on the knife as the owl guy spoke, Ohm not paying attention to any of it.

He quickly pulled the knife out of his belt and swiped at the owl guy, barely missing.

“You really are ruthless, aren’t ya?” Owl asked and Ohm looked up at him, grinning.

“I guess so. But what do you want with me?”

“Join us. Join the upcoming gang of Los Santos.”

“What’s your name if you don't mind me asking?”

“The Individuals.”

“Quite the name. Seems like you’re in your 8th gra-”

“Just shut up and join us.”

“Or what?”

Owl turned to look towards sunglasses who shrugged and began to talk.

“Maybe report you to the police for murder. Or we could just end your life here as you sit on your knees and look pathetic-”

“Mini!” Another voice yelled.

“Just being honest.”

“Don’t be brutally honest.” The man in the pig suit said, placing his hand on the man in the suit’s shoulder and turning him to face his mask. The pig brought his hand up and instead of doing what Ryan thought he was going to do, he flicked the sunglasses dude’s forehead who groaned and let out a quiet comeback as the pig turned back to face Ryan.

“So, will you join us?”

“Why do you even want me? I’m just some runt in a gang that isn’t even that powerful. You guys are the upcoming, powerful gang of Los Santos. I’d basically be of no use.”

“You’re Ohmwrecker, or shall we say, Ryan Buster, son of one of one of the biggest clients of _The Pigmies_ and his wife, who never did much. You had a little brother who played soccer and an older sister who was top of her grade and overall perfect. You grew up in foster homes and always had perfect grades, just like _his sister_.”

“Shut up.” Ryan whispered harshly, biting his lip as the memory of hiding outside of his house, peeking through the window as his family were beaten up then murdered played in his mind as if it were a movie.

“You’re a genius in science. When you joined _The Pigmies_ you were a runt. You were the weak one but it never stopped you. You kept fighting and training and look at you. You know why we want you? Because you’re a man who’s brilliant, tactical, and could probably take down masses of men if he wanted with the right training. We can give you the power and whatever chemicals you need to become the best you could ever be. Ohm, please acc-”

“I accept. Just.. Please. Never bring up my family again. Also, please refer to me as Ohm. I want my past and Ryan dead.” Ryan said weakly, his voice shaking in fear as the four nodded.

The clown man offered his hand, which Ryan took weakly. He was pulled up and as they walked towards the helicopter that the four brought.

Well Ryan thought it was four but there were three other men in the helicopter. There was a man who was tanned, a monkey mask covering his face. But the mouth was open, allowing the man to smoke a cigarette. There was another man, one with an eagle mask and blue sweat shirt and jeans (which was way too casual for a gang). And last but not least, a man with a red mask that had an X over his right eye.

Letting out a sigh as he sat down, he was introduced to the current gang. There was the leader, Vanoss or Evan, preferably Vanoss during business though. He was the owl mask guy. Then there was his right hand man, Delirious, the clown. Apparently he was the most ruthless of the group which had scared Ryan because who knew how many people he had killed while wearing that mask, those soulless eyes just staring at his victims. Then there was Wildcat or Tyler, the best close to combat fighter because of his height and strength. He was the pig mask dude. Then there was his partner, yes they were that open already with Ryan, the sunglasses dude aka Mini or Craig, who was a man of many disguises. He was also quite persuasive, able to get many people to listen to him and lure them into their doom. The guy flying the helicopter, aka the monkey kid, was Lui. He was the best sniper around and was the shortest of the group. Next was eagle mask guy, aka Brock, their doctor. He was extremely smart so he got to skip two or so grades and hurry up his studies in medical supplies and anatomy in general. Last but not least was Cartoonz or Luke, probably the groups smartest shooter and the backup guy. He tended to stay in the back, watching the cameras and scanning for any bad guys and if they needed, he would always come in to help immediately, being able to usually predict where an enemy would be (Delirious teased Luke, saying that it was probably something with his eye. Luke, in response, took hold of Delirious’s mask and pulled it down slightly, flicking the boy’s forehead who yelled at him in response. To say the least, the ride back was chaotic yet hilarious).

When they got back, they arrived at a large, worn out warehouse that was set a bit far off of the city. There was several hundred acres of bright green grass and trees. Did they train in the forest? Ryan continued to look around, noticing multiple gardens. One contained actual food, another with herbs, and they continued with other supplies that they grew themselves.

They had begun to approach the building and that’s when Ryan realized how small he was compared to the large warehouse. It was a football field wide and about three stories. The warehouse plus all of this land must’ve cost a fortune so how did they even afford this?

Ryan was pulled out of his thoughts by Cartoonz patting his back, a friendly smile expressed on his lips.

“You must have a lot of questions I assume.”

“.. Yeah.”

“Well, c’mon inside and make yourself at home. We’ll answer any questions you got.” Luke stated as everyone began to approach the doors, Ryan slowly following as he kept on studying the small things about the building and area in general.

“Come on slow poke or we’ll shoot the ground below you to hurry you up!” Lui called out to Ryan who nodded quickly before jogging to to the group, realizing that they had now entered the building.

The room you entered was the main room. There was a big v planted on the wall and couches and chairs surrounded it from a good distance. A table sat in the middle, some magazines and day old coffee mugs sitting on the top, board games and decks of cards on the bottom. In the room to the left was the kitchen which had an island with a few chairs then a long table with benches on the two long sides and one chair on each short side. There was a vase with a bouquet of colorful flowers that sat in the middle and next to the fridge was a bookshelf with multiple cookbooks for different ways of baking or cooking. The room opposite of the kitchen was the meeting room. In there hung a huge map of Los Santos and there was a long, smooth wooden black table with spinny chairs surrounding it. In the corner near the front, there were multiple high tech computers with a bottle of water that sat in front of the one right. For how many men they had now, which was now 8, hey could probably fit about double and a few extra people at the table and everyone could stand around. There were a few bathrooms and then a separate room for the washing and drying machine.

Then the went upstairs which consisted of the game room, it had a pool table, ping pong table, a few arcade machines, and a few other things. There was also a big office where multiple worked and a few other small offices dispersed down the hallway.

The third floor were just the bedrooms, which they allowed Ryan to choose his pick. He went through multiple before finding one near the end of the hallway which when you entered, the lights were a light blue. It reminded him of his room as a child. There was an old, dark blue almost black dresser with silver knobs. On top of that was a thin mirror attached to the wall. Nothing sat on top of the dresser, and maybe Ryan would change that. He looked around, noticing the closet on the right side of his bed and a desk on the left. It had a thing of pens, a journal, and a note.

_‘Hello future recruit! We hope you enjoy your time with us and cherish the most of it. We try our best to be like a family, even though we are far from one. But if you ever need to talk but don’t feel comfortable bringing it up, here’s a free journal. Or maybe you just want to document your days with us.. Like a diary! Anyways, we hope you enjoy this gift._

 

_Sincerely,_

_The Individuals.’_

Ryan chuckled quietly and placed down the note, turning to look at his bed before sitting on it. He had a good view on the outside world from his window, only seeing the “country side” but it was a good side. Also quite peaceful.

He began to think about his family once again, wondering what they would think of him. Are they happy that he avenged them? Was his mom disappointed that her small and innocent son had committed cold blooded murder with a sickening smile on his face. He shuddered, remembering the expression he made. He didn’t see it but how the blood drained from his leader's face and how his leader who always blabbed on and never stood in fear was frozen in shock at the sudden truth and betrayal.

Ryan began to think about what if his leader had a family.. A wife, a son, maybe another little boy or girl that the leader would do anything to protect.. To hear their father was never going to come back? He felt sick to the stomach and was now on the verge of crying. Did he really do what was best for everyone? No.. He had to have done the right thing..

With a yawn and feeling drained, Ryan stripped down to his boxers, placing his dirty clothes in the corner as he crawled under the sheets on his bed, falling asleep in the comfortable bed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for the awesome support on just the first chapter!! i hope you enjoy this one just as much, or even more!!

Waking up with the faint, bright light shining through the curtains and resting peacefully throughout the room was a way Ryan hadn’t woken up in years. It felt like it had been forever since he got to stay in an actual nice room with a nice bed and stay under the roof of a nice house in general. He was hesitant to get out of bed but when he did, his legs felt like jelly. He looked in the mirror, realizing he was still in his boxers. His eyes looked up at his hair which was shaggy and messed up in all directions. He looked down at his dresser, just realizing that there were some clothes neatly folded on the right corner.

Ryan shrugged before putting them on, finding it weird, but nice that the clothes fit perfectly on him. How had they gotten his size? He looked towards where he threw his dirty clothes the night before, taking note that they were gone.

So maybe these guys weren’t magicians but hey, they at least didn’t have to stalk him or do the measurements while he slept. He shivered at the thought then shook his head, heading for the doorway. He slowly left his room, closing the door quietly behind him. What time was it even anyways? Instead of taking normal strides, he was careful with how he stepped, taking long and slow strides. He had eventually reached the stairs and decided to go down quietly to the second floor. Upon reaching it, he now took normal strides, heading down the next flight of stairs that lead to the first floor. He decided to head to the kitchen. It was morning so hopefully someone was in there making breakfast.

His prediction was right and in there stood some random male who had a buff build and was sort of tan. His hair was combed and Ryan sort of envied him for the fact that he actually had a brush.

“Good morning Cra-” He said as he turned around to be greeted by Ryan.

“Oh, you’re not Craig. But good morning Ohm!” Ryan nodded and slowly made his way to the island, taking a seat as he tried to figure out who this was.

“Quick question.” Ryan stated, catching the other male’s attention.

“Mmhm?”

“Are you friends with the guys or..?” Ryan trailed off, watching as the guy made omelettes.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I haven’t seen you before, well then again I only did arrive yesterday, but yesterday, no one else was here when we showed up and you weren’t here so..” The guy nodded with a confused expression on his face and tapped his finger against his chin before a look as if a lightbulb turned on inside of his mind had appeared on his face..

“That’s because we had our masks on. I’m Brock or as you notice me as, eagle mask dude. And sorry, I forgot to mention that I also go by Moo. I was just surprised that we were actually able to convince you to join us.”

“How are you surprised?”

“You’re quite the powerful guy and I heard about the knife thing with Vanoss. That was a bold move which I gotta give props to. Not many people would be willing to do that even on death’s door. Even then, after a move like that, I would think you’d be resilient. But you just seem like a guy who wouldn’t be so easily persuaded..”

“Weird. But yesterday.. Vanoss mentioned something about making chemicals and such like that. Where would you even do that?”

“That’s the basement. We’ve got all of our weapons down there, armor, a training/weight room, and a lab.”

“Wait.. Do you guys make drugs?”

“Hell no. Didn’t Evan explain what we do?”

“Sadly no.” Ryan faked a frown causing Moo to let out a small chuckle as he made another omelette.

“Well,” Brock turned off the oven and turned to face Ryan, leaning back on the counter. “We, The Individuals, care about this city and the innocent civilians. We all have our stories and we want to protect the city we grew up in. That means taking out murderous gangs, stopping drug deals, lowering crimes, etc. We don’t want to fail this city and let anymore innocent people die because we weren’t able to protect it years ago.” Ryan nodded the whole time, actually feeling a bit moved.

They truly cared about this city and were far from being bad guys. They were trying to stop crimes and they just wanted to protect people who have done nothing wrong and probably some of their families..

“Morning you two!” A new voice called loudly and the two boys turned to see Craig standing in the doorway.

“Morning Craig.” Brock greeted as Ryan just gave a small wave with a warm smile. His mind was still on what Brock said and how he possibly hurt an innocent family's life.

“Could you get the others for me?” Brock asked and Craig nodded, heading out the way he came in and his footsteps slowly got quieter and quieter until there was nothing left.

“Ohm, could you help take these to the table?” Brock asked, nudging towards the plates that had an omelette on each.

Ryan nodded and got off the chair, heading towards the counter. He grabbed a few plates and headed to the table, placing a plate in 8 different spots as Brock placed the silverware next to each plate, along with a napkin.

“Do you usually make breakfast?” Ryan asked as him and Brock sat down, opposite of each other.

“Usually. Sometimes somebody else may do it or we might even just go out. Well, not all of us, but a few go out, order something, bring it back, and we eat it.”

“Cool, cool.”

“Yeah. I’m guessing you have a lot of questions?”

“Way more than you would think..”

“I mean you did get semi-kidnapped and were basically forced to join another gang so I mean, if I was in your spot, I would probably have a ton of questions.”

They continued to make small talk, mostly of Brock just answering any questions that Ryan had for him specifically. It consisted of how did he know Evan and the rest and being the doctor, what were some of the worst injuries he had to fix. Brock told him about how an old friend of his had gotten involved in a job with them, and had gotten shot in one of his kidneys. Thank god he had two at that time or he may not have survived. Ryan was about to ask where did the guy go but everyone had entered, wishing the two at the table a good morning as they all began to sit down.

Everyone took their time with getting coffee and soon each person sat at the table, eating their omelette and occasionally taking a sip from their coffee.

“So, Ohm, are you enjoying the place or..?” Luke asked taking another bite of his omelette after the question came out.

“It’s nice. But how did you guys get the clothes? They fit perfectly.”

“We were just lucky that we got your size and that there’s a few clothing places open late.” Tyler answered as Craig lightly leaned on his shoulder.

“Ahh, do you guys mind if I ask some other questions?” Ryan asked, taking a sip of his bitter but mostly sweet coffee.

“As many as you want. We’ve got a while.” Evan joined in, giving a slight shrug.

Ryan had asked many questions, from how they all knew each other and what made them start a gang to just what their favorite movie was or what suggestions they had for what to do when you’re bored around here. Each person answered their question normally and Ryan respected when they trailed off, making him realize that he had hit a little too close to home. He made a mental note each time it happened just so he wouldn’t make that mistake again.

Breakfast had finished long ago as he asked his question (for now).

“So, how often do you guys go on jobs or missions?”

They each looked at each other, then towards Evan. He was the leader after all so he would probably have the right answer.

“Well, we each get separate jobs that apply to our skills. Say someone has to be taken out by a sniper, we’ll send Lui after them. We need to stop a gang from completing a drug deal, say something like your situation yesterday, everyone will go out. We have all types of jobs and it just depends. By the way, when I call you up to my office, it’s never a bad thing. I’m just calling you up to tell you about a job that I think would match your skill set perfectly.” Evan finished as people began to bring their dishes to the sink, rinsing them before putting them in the dishwasher.

Ryan nodded in response to what Evan said, now wondering what he should do with his day. Maybe he could start training? He looked around the room then back on Evan who was currently talking to Delirious. Would he be able to ask some more questions later?

 

\---

 

Hours had passed before there was a knock on Ryan’s door. He was lying on his bed and honestly didn’t want to get up. He yelled out that they could come in and the person who entered was his leader, Evan. He was surprised to say the least.

He sat up as Evan gave a small wave and sat down on the edge of his bed.

“E-Evan, if I may ask, what are you doing in here? I would think you would be training or working on something.”

“I just knocked to see if you were in here since everyone said they saw you go back to your room but no one said that you had left. I was a bit worried.”

“Why would you be worried?”

“I would expect you to be training about now. You’re a person who keeps going until the very end y’know.”

“Well thank you, but do you mind if I ask a few more questions?”

“Not at all.”

“Are there other recruits?” He asked timidly and he wasn’t sure if it was his imagination or not but he thought he saw Evan faintly flinch.

“Do you want the ones from before or now?”

“There are others now?”

“Well, ones we have in mind.”

“.. Tell me all of them.”

Evan began with an Irishman named David who was an amazing escape artist. Lui and him were best friends and were always seen with each other. He was their past chemicalist also, usually brewing up new ideas for bombs and what to put in this mixture to try and kill this person faster. He was admirable but he died during a mission when the other gang had blown up the building, killing most of their men, but also David in the mix. They mourned for weeks, Lui rarely left his room, only leaving for jobs so he could at least get his mind off of the fact that his best friend was dead.

Next was Scotty, a good friend of Tyler’s who had joined because he cared about Tyler more than anything in this world. They were childhood friends and Scotty always had stuck by Tyler’s side and watched after him until the very end, which he did. Scotty was the most stealthy of them, usually able to get by without making a noise. He was considered almost invisible to most. His slim figure and height contributed greatly to his success of taking out men quietly so they could get through and get the job done was always major. One day, when Scotty was sent on a mission with Tyler and Delirious, Tyler was about to be shot by a guy who he hadn’t even realized yet. Scotty saw the guy slowly moving his hand to pull the trigger and his immediate reaction was to push Tyler out of the way, the shot entering a few inches to the right of his heart.

Last was Brian. He was also from Ireland and was _really_ close with Brock. The two were a great duo and whenever they went out on a group job, the two always had each other’s backs. And back at the warehouse, Brian would help Brock train and vice versa. They helped each other’s weak spots since what one person was good at, the other was not. They were a great duo but one day, on a solo mission, Brian hadn’t come back. They searched the area to not see any traces of him. For the first few weeks, Brock was never home, always checking the warehouse where Brian had disappeared and the area around it. Then he slowly gave up, though Evan disagrees and thinks that Brock still has hope that Brian is out there, and stayed at the warehouse more, cleaning up and such. He perfected more of his medical area and even learned how to cook tons of meals.

“And what about the current recruits?”

“Well there’s you obviously, we’re looking at this one guy named Adam who’s an excellent deceiver and manipulator. He’s known for always being able to torture the answers he wants out of his victims. He’s ruthless but also quite friendly. Then he has a friend who goes by Chilled on the streets, but his name is Anthony, who’s been involved with the mafia since he was able to walk and hold a gun. Though he’s not the most experienced he could prove himself. There is one time in his records when he hunted down one of the most well known mafia bosses and had taken him out easily so he has great potential to be discovered. And lastly, there’s this guy, a year younger than you I would say the least, who works as many things. An assassin, hit man, disguiser, etc. He seems to be absolutely perfect at everything he tries. The funny thing is, his appearance would make you think he’s some good Christian kid who goes to Church every Sunday and is far from being a killer.” Evan finished off and Ryan nodded, processing the information.

“What’s his name?”

“Bryce.”

“Who would you say is the most fearful of the four of us?”

“You, no doubt. Adam comes close but Ohm.. You become a whole new person in a fight. From what I’ve noticed, you’re distant and don’t tend to focus all that much with most things going around you. But when you fight, you notice _almost_ everything and it’s scary because you know where to exactly aim and can usually predict someone’s next move.”

“That’s what years of people watching, training, and fighting men twice your size and strength do to you.”

“Do you mind if I ask a question Ohm?”

“After all of mine, not at all.”

“Do you regret anything about being in The Pigmies?”

Ryan was about to say no but then he remembered when he had to take out people who he had never seen before in the dark parts of alleyways. He never let it bother him that they might have had families. He remembered when they robbed a small corner shop and some of the guys had decided it would be funny to play a game of russian roulette but with the innocent civilians. Ohm was forced to play and of course when it got to him, the person he pointed the gun at had been shot. He had killed some innocent person just because some guys in his gang had pressured him into playing the stupid game.

“I do have many regrets but I can’t go back and fix them. It’s too late now. The people I harmed have been harmed and the ones I’ve killed can never be brought back.” Ryan whispered, his voice cracking near the end. He received a nod in response from Evan who sat there, waiting to see if there was more to be said from Ryan, which there was nothing. Evan decided to take his moment and spoke up.

“Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone in this gang has made their mistakes and it probably nags them every other day and never shuts up. But we can always avenge the mistakes we made, even if it will never truly resolve what happened. Would you want to go back and fix your mistakes or continue on?”

His family dying flashed in his mind. The innocent man he killed, his expression of fear and sadness popped in Ryan’s mind. The grip of his knife as he slid it across and deep in a random mans throat as they stood in the dark part of the alley, cars and people passing by as if nothing was happening. He remembers the scarlet red liquid drying on the knife, making it harder for Ryan to wash it off when he got back to the base. He remembers the cold nights of lying in his makeshift bed, thinking about the day when he could finally avenge his family. He knew his answer.

“No. I wouldn’t be who I am now if I went back in time to when everything had started. Even then, if I did go back to where it started, I would die along with my family. I’m lucky I got out..” Ryan said breathless as he wondered what one of his siblings would have done if they were the one to get out.

His sister would’ve been the responsible one, probably rushing to a neighbor’s house or running down the street yelling for help. By the time the police arrived along with his sister and whoever else, they probably would’ve been dead. But his little brother? As much as Ryan hoped that he would run to the neighbors house but knowing how confused and distressed he would be, he would probably try and hit the “bad guys” legs, hoping that that would do some damage but it would do none. The guys probably would’ve laughed at his weak attempts and either kidnapped him or just murder him on the spot. The sad thing is, it wouldn’t have been hard. Being so young and having a weak body, he could be easily taken out.

“Honestly, if you said you wanted to go back I would’ve laughed. That just doesn’t fit your personality.” Evan whispered, looking at Ryan with a weak smile.

“What do you mean?”

“I just mean that you’re a person who regrets, but you learn rather than dawn on the mistakes.”

Ryan let out a quiet _oh_ and Evan nodded, leaning over to place a hand on Ryan’s shoulder.

“If you have any more questions or just need to talk, I’m usually in my office. I don’t care if I’m in the middle of filing something or just on break, if you need to let out something I’m here, along with the other guys. We’ll always have an open ear for you, okay?”

Evan slowly got up and headed to the doorway and Ryan wanted to say one last thing. One last thing that would be meaningful. But all that came out was-

“Why are you treating me so nicely?”

 Evan, without turning to look at Ryan, slid his hands into his pockets and let out a quiet sigh before talking in a hushed tone.

"Because we’re family now, _right_?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this story is a bit slow currently but that's because i just want to settle in. then we can get some drama here and there!! but yes, we were introduced to the other recruits and oh look bryce was mentioned :') i hope youre all enjoying this fic so far though!! thank you all so much for reading and ill see you in the next chapter!!


	3. Chapter 3

Waking up early the following morning, before the sun was even up, Ryan changed into some more baggy, exercising clothes. He threw his dirty clothes into the hamper that they had placed in the corner of his room after dinner from the night before. He exited his room, shutting the door quietly behind him before heading all the way down to the basement and right to the training room.  

He recognized most of the machines and small equipment, but couldn’t put his finger on the exact names of each. His eyes found the weights that sat on a rack next to a bench. He walked over, grabbing the 20 kg dumbbells. He held one in each hand and kept his grip tight as he curled his forearm, bringing it closer to the upper part of his arm. He repeated that action for both of his arms 15 times before taking a 15 second break. He continued with that for 4 more times before continuing on with more exercises that included dumbbells.

After finishing that, he looked around for an open space, finding room near the punching bag. He made his way over and once he had set himself up, he began to do exercises that focused on toning your legs. He did squats, lunges, calf raises, and more.

He finished with those and began to “tussle” with the punching bag, wishing he had a living and breathing partner that had a brain so he could work more on predicting moves and going off of survival instinct. He was about to punch the bag but stopped when his vision when staticy. He stumbled backwards, closing his eyes and rubbing them aggressively. What happened?

When he looked back up, he saw the first man he ever faced off with in the gang instead of the punching bag. The man stood tall and Ryan could hear the cheers in the ring again. He could hear the men surrounding them again, yelling to kick this kids ass and hey, he’s weak. It’ll be an easy fight. He remembered the betting board and how there was only 2 of 30 votes on his side.

He remembered almost getting knocked out immediately but he just barely avoided the attack. He had ducked to the right and ended up behind the guy. A loud boo came from the crowd and he had gritted his teeth, annoyed at the guy. Sure, Ryan was a pipsqueak compared to all of these guys, but he still had good traits that made him strong.

The guy turned back around and went in for another hit which had gotten Ryan’s left shoulder. He cursed quietly as the guy recovered and went in for another hit which he knew to dodge.

This guy did not know how to fight if Ryan had to say. His moves were unprofessional and he was easily predictable. He punched mainly with his left hand, rarely his right. He also would launch himself forward which gave Ryan time to move because the guy was usually stumbling when he did walk or when trying to recover from his previous attempt at a hit.

Now Ryan had two choices. One, he could let this fight continue on and let the guy just exhaust himself from all the energy he’s wasting and then Ryan could take him out at his weakest point. Only problem is that could be hours. This guy, even a bit tired already from what Ryan could tell, was still going at it like he hadn’t lost any energy. The second option? Fake getting knocked out (or get knocked out for real) and just get it over with. He’s already looked down as a pipsqueak so this wouldn’t change much.

By the time he made the decision, the guy had charged already and had gotten a clear punch into the middle of Ryan’s chest, knocking him back onto the ground. Laughter erupted from around him and he wasn’t sure whether to get up or not. It was hard to breathe and if it wasn’t for all the noise he could hear around him, he was pretty sure he would be dead.

Was it worth getting up again? Possibly getting punched multiple times and being laughed at even more. Should he just give up here and stay on the ground?

He clenched his fists as he flopped over onto his stomach, pushing up on his arms that currently felt like jelly. He brought his knees closer to his chest and began to push up, a chorus of whoops erupting as he slowly stood back up. The guy he was facing looked surprised. Then again if some weak kid you were fighting got up after one of your strongest hits you would be pretty shocked also.

“Didn’t know you could do that kid.” He grinned before charging again at Ryan, who barely dodged the move.

The fight had taken forever but it went down with Ryan doing his best, aka just dodging and getting a weak hit every so often. Ryan had been punched in the middle of the chest as the final hit. He had been knocked down and he just didn’t have the strength to keep going.

When Ryan came back from the memory, the only thing in his vision was the stone cement that was cracked and needed to be cleaned up. His breathing was fast paced and full of fear, scaring him even more because he felt like he just couldn’t breathe even if he tried to take deep breaths.

His hands were firmly planted on the ground and he felt his face burning, slowly spreading through the rest of his body. His heart was beating almost out of his chest and he just couldn’t move. His body was frozen like ice but it burned like fire.

He didn’t hear the footsteps come down the stairs or the door open, revealing Delirious. The clown-like boy looked around and spotted the Ryan and what was happening and rushed over, keeping his hands off of Ryan as he tried to calm him.

Ryan barely heard the voice through how loud his heart was beating and how it echoed through his ears.

“Ohm.”

Did someone say his name?

“Ohm!”

He picked his hand off of the ground and reached in front of him to feel something, or someone, grab his hand.

“OHM!”

He heard the voice now and his body slowly returned to normal. He was hesitant to look up, worrying it might be Evan or Tyler or someone who might be overly concerned. He didn’t expect to see the clown of the team, sitting there in front of him while holding his hand, whispering soothing words in an attempt to now calm him down.

“Thank god.” Delirious let out quietly, letting go of Ryan’s hand.

Ryan didn’t speak but only sat up and moved back to rest against the wall. Delirious joined him immediately and the two sat down there next to each other in silence. Delirious wasn’t asking any questions and Ryan was thankful that he wasn’t He also wasn’t trying to make conversation that would possibly make it worse. For now, sitting in the silence was probably the best option.

Minutes had passed and Delirious let out a quiet breath before turning to face Ryan.

“Do you want to talk? If not, it’s okay.” Delirious asked quietly, keeping cautious with every word he said.

“Memories.” Ryan answered simply and Delirious nodded.

The two sat there in more silence as minutes passed once again. Ryan was unsure what to say, sort of nervous that Delirious may judge him or possibly laugh. He didn’t know Delirious well enough so he was basically a wild card to him.

“But thank you.” Ryan let out in a hushed tone.

“For what?” Delirious asked in a just as equal hushed tone.

“For helping me.”

“It wasn’t much..”

“But to me it was.”

Delirious didn’t reply and Ryan didn’t say anything else. Sure, it was a normal action to help someone close in a situation like this, but in his old gang, he would’ve been laughed at and he probably would’ve retreated to hiding behind a dumpster or an unused janitor's closet. He was someone who never had this experience back in his old gang but there were young men around his age who had joined, hoping to earn a quick few bucks but next thing they knew they had murdered someone and just couldn’t handle it. Those guys were usually laughed at and called weak, but they never left the gang because you couldn’t. They knew too much and it was either stay in the gang and suffer or try and leave but be murdered even if you pleaded, saying you wouldn’t tell a soul about anything that happened. It didn’t matter if you were going to be true or not to that because next thing you know, you would have been shot and your body would be buried in some country side or thrown into the ocean.

He shivered at the thought of that and moved his arms so now that they were crossed against his chest.

“I’m going to head upstairs, okay? I’ll be in the game room with Luke. And if anyone asks where you are, I’ll just say training. All good?”

“Yeah.”

“See you later Ohm.”

“You too Delirious.”

 

\---

 

After a delicious dinner made by Brock and a few more questions from Ohm, everyone had dispersed, doing their own things. In the middle of the day, Ryan decided that he wanted to talk to Delirious but he just couldn’t find the right time or place. He was always talking to someone or right near someone and he didn’t want to interrupt whatever was going on. But now Delirious was heading to his room alone and Ryan could now approach him.

He felt his pace quicken as he hurried to reach up to Delirious. He was soon behind the boy and he lightly tapped on his shoulder, scaring Delirious actually.

“O-Oh, hey Ohm. You scared me.” Delirious said through chuckles and Ryan chuckled quietly also.

“I just wanted to talk to you.”

“About what?” Delirious asked curiously as they headed to the third floor.

“About this morning. I feel like I shou-”

“Ohm.” Delirious said seriously and a chill ran down Ryan’s spine as they stopped on the middle of the stairs. “There’s no need to pressure yourself into talking to me if you’re not comfortable.”

“Delirious.. I am comfortable speaking about it. I just- earlier.. I couldn’t get it out because I was still in shock I guess? Anyways I need to let it out and I feel comfortable talking to you.”

“R-Really?”

“I don’t know why but I feel like you could understand me somehow. And you don’t push me into saying anything which is really nice.”

“Well then let's go.” Delirious grinned as he reached for Ohm’s hand and pulled him up the stairs.

They arrived at Delirious’s room (Ryan made a mental note of where it was located so if he ever needed to talk he would know where to go) and Delirious turned on the small lamp on his dresser as Ryan headed to sit on the bed.

“So, what happened?” Delirious asked as he took a seat next to Ryan.

“I was training and.. I went to the punching bag. It was normal but then my vision it got all.. All staticy like. It was weird. I closed my eyes and when I looked up I saw the first man I ever fought in the gang.”

“How did they make you guys face off?”

“Like animals. Betting on each other, cheering, not stopping until the other was dead or close to death.” Ryan grieved, remembering the one time he had to help bring out a dead body of a person just a year younger than him who was scrawny. He had been punched too many times that bones broke and he lost too much blood before they realized that the kid wouldn’t make it.

“Sheesh..”

“The guy I faced off for the first time was shocked when I managed to get back up. He had a strong punch but his movements were his weakness. Easily predictable. When I was knocked out for the last time.. That’s when everything started messing up. My breathing, my body, everything.”

“Damn.” Delirious whispered breathless and leaned back, holding himself up with his two hands. Ryan on the other hand was a bit slouched over, his shoulders drooping as he continued to let out his past.

“Being in that gang was scary as hell. Being only 18 when I joined was one of the worst experiences. At 18, you’re supposed to be worrying about your future, like if you’re going to be accepted to this one college or not. Not joining a gang and worrying about about murdering this person right and getting back to the base without being caught!” Near the end, Ryan had raised his voice and regretted it, turning to look at Delirious who seemed unfazed but still looked like he was listening. 

“Sorry about raising my voice. I just-” Ryan stopped and looked away, feeling guilty and tired. “I don’t know. I shouldn’t be this emotional I mean, people have gone through worse.”

“Yeah but an experience for two people is always different. For one it might cause more stress and for the other it might cause more anger. Ohm.. You lost your family at such a young age and so everything has probably been more emotionally threatening to you than others. It’s all okay.” Delirious let out quietly with a chuckle and sat up normally, leaning over to Ohm.

He wrapped his arms around Ohm which shocked him. It had been the first time he had been hugged in how many years? The last time he received a hug was from his mother who gave them to her children like she had millions to spare.

Delirious’ hug felt just like his mom’s. It wasn’t too tight around him but it wasn’t too loose, it was just right and giving just enough support. Ohm didn’t make a move at first, but then decided to lean on Delirious, breathing in and out through his nose. His heart beats had slowed and were quiet. He kept his arms to his side as Delirious held him close, not saying anything.

Ryan wanted to cry but no tears came to his eyes, and he was sort of grateful. Maybe crying right now wasn’t the best option, even if it was the right moment. With all the support Delirious was giving him, he couldn’t let himself cry, making it seem as if the support was going in vain.

After who knows how many minutes, there was a knock on the door, scaring the both of them. Delirious’ arms weren’t supporting Ryan anymore and now he fent some sense of lost. Maybe it was just because he’s been deprived of a hug for years or maybe it was the fact that Delirious could give so much support in a hug, but Ryan missed it.

Delirious got up and answered the door while Ryan still sat on the bed, staring at the floor.

“Oh hey Ohm.” A voice said and Ryan’s heartbeat picked up as he quickly looked up to see Cartoonz.

“O-oh, hey Cartoonz.” He said with a quiet chuckle at the end.

He stood up, deciding that it was probably time he should head back to his own room. He had spent a long time in here and Delirious probably had something to do with Cartoonz.

“Anyways, Evan is calling us all to the offices. I was sent for you two since everyone else is there already. Evan was a bit surprised to not find you guys in the gaming room or something.”

Well there goes Ryan’s chance of going back to his bedroom and falling asleep. Then again, maybe waking up later instead of earlier might be better for him.. After all that lead to the training room incident earlier.

“I’m surprised he hasn’t noticed that I literally go to my bedroom after dinner every night, except when someone needs me.”

“Yeah, yeah, you can complain to Evan but it’s important we get down there.”

“Let's go then.”

 

\---

 

“Took you three long enough.” Evan said with a shit eating grin, which Delirious returned with sticking his tongue out at their leader

“Yeah yeah, I got them, so let's just start.” Cartoonz interrupted and sat down in a chair next to Lui.

Delirious sat down in the middle of Cartoonz and Wildcat which was kinda surprising. The right hand man should sit near the front, right? That spot was taken by Wildcat though.

Ryan sat down next to Brock who was focused on what Evan had begun to say.

“We will be having a group job to recruit one of the new guys, Bryce. He is currently working with The Ashvilli Gang for a drug deal that is going on in three days. He’s one of the bodyguards so we have to be careful when taking out everyone. And yes, I mean everyone, including the other gang. The Ashvilli only hire people who have committed crimes and most of their gang members have been broken out of prison.”

Evan continued to talk on about the mission but something still nagged the back of Ryan’s mind. Why did they have to kill these people? Sure they did bad things but what if they regretted it? What if they were people who wanted to leave the gang but couldn’t?

“And lastly, our roles. Mini, I want you to hack into the system and the cameras. Cartoonz, you’ll have everyone's mics connected to your and will have cameras so you can warn us about anything. And as usual, if we need you, we will call. Lui, we can set you up in the building before anyone shows up. There are crates you can hide in or behind so if they do a building check you won’t be caught. If need be, crawl in the vents. Brock, you’ll stick with Cartoonz. We need you to stay back and bring some of your best supplies, it’s going to possibly get messy. Wildcat and Delirious, you’ll handle the Bonelli Mob while Ohm and I get the Ashvilli. Everyone okay with their roles?” Everyone nodded but Ryan who had lost interest after hearing his part.

He went back to his thoughts and was more than confused. In his previous gang, he had never thought about these things. So why now? Why did he feel the need to voice his thoughts when he never had a second thought about when he was told when to kill someone for some silly thing they did that they could fix with his leader?

Being so lost in thought, he didn’t hear Evan saying that everyone could be dismissed. Everyone but Evan and Ryan had left. Evan worked on papers, not realizing that Ryan was still here, until he turned to see that the guy was still sitting in his chair.

Evan was hesitant to approach him, but when he was close enough, he stuck out his arm and lightly placed it on Ryan’s shoulder, shaking him out of his thoughts. Ryan looked a bit shocked at the action and quickly looked around the room, realizing that everyone had already left. Beginning to feel embarrassed, Ryan’s face began to turn red and he apologized multiple times which left Evan to start saying that it’s all okay and there’s no need to be sorry.

“A-Anyways.. What were you thinking about that made you lose focus?” Evan asked as he walked back to his corner, grabbing scattered papers and placing them in a pile.

“I’m just confused.”

“May I ask about what?”

Ryan bit his lip and began to explain what he had been feeling about them murdering these people and how he wasn’t sure if they should. Also about how in his previous gang, he never thought these things but here he is now, wanting to voice this but wasn’t sure if he should.

“Ah. Well, in the end, it’s either we die or they die. Gangs like this never settle. But, if I had to say what’s going on, you probably just feel like you’re actually respected. It’s not a bad thing, it’s actually pretty good. You feel like you can finally voice an opinion and hey, no one will laugh but maybe someone will disagree, of course logically.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Don’t be afraid to voice an opinion here. If anyone laughs, he will surely get a yelling from Brock later which, by the way, I recommend never getting in trouble. Those yellings really stick with you.” Evan let out, chuckling as he thought about a memory from his past.

“You guys really are like a fami-”

“Don’t you mean ‘We really are like a family.’”

“You’re really enforcing the family idea with me being included.” Ryan said with a chuckle and finally got up, heading closer to the door.

“Once you join, there’s really no leaving this family.”

“Well, that’s the nice way of putting that you can’t leave this gang ever.”

“Whatever you think. Now head to bed, we’re all training tomorrow.”

“Sounds good boss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so for those who don't know, ohm does have visual snow but in this fic, the static is not the visual snow. visual snow lasts 24/7 but this only lasted for seconds. and the punching bag turned into guy was just a hallucination. he then began to remember. 
> 
> but anyways, this chapter just full of memories ahaha. i feel like every chapter has had memories so far?? but thats ok bc hey, we get to see what made ohm, ohm. also bRYCE IS COMING SOON ;DD ive also got a few other surprises for you guys soon <3 
> 
> anyways i hoped you all enjoyed this chapter! im so thankful for all of the awesome support so far and i cannot wait to really get into the plot and such!! see you all in the next chapter ;0


	4. Chapter 4

On the last day of training, Delirious had invited Ryan back down to the training room, who was hesitant to accept but did, knowing that if something were to happen he would have Delirious there. To say he was nervous was an understatement. His knees felt weak with each step he took and he could feel his heartbeat grow louder and louder in his ears as he slowly approached the doors. He would be fine and he had to believe that (though that was very unlikely currently with how he felt panicked with the whole situation).

He opened the doors to see Delirious practicing with the punching bag. He did a tactic that Ryan had never seen before which was Delirious moving back with the punching bag in his grip. He then swung it to the side with all of his force which then caused the punching bag, with a lot of force, to start moving around as Delirious had begun to lightly dance around in a circle until the punching bag came in his direction which he then brought his fist forward with all of his force, knocking the punching bag back. If Ryan wasn’t on Delirious’ side, he would’ve been scared out of his skin to face the clown.

Ryan had taken a step in, letting go of the door which made a big slam. He cursed quietly as Delirious’ head turned to look at him, a grin spreading on his lips. Delirious faced the punching bag again, holding his hands out as the item swung back at him. His grip tightened on the sides of the punching bag and he slowly walked forward, setting it still. The boy turned back again to Ryan, giving him a small wave.

“So why did you call me down here? I would rather get some last minute training in than possibly talking.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be fighting.” He said and pointed as the door behind him that led to the outside. “But on one condition.”

“And what is that condition?”

“Don’t go easy. I want your full fight. I don’t care if I win or lose but.. I don’t want you to try any less than what you are.” Delirious stated seriously, causing Ryan to gulp in nervousness because what if he did try hard but it wasn’t enough?

“Now let’s go!” Delirious cheered, his tone and mood changing in an instant.

Delirious headed towards the bench where he had placed two water bottles along with two light colored towels. Delirious must’ve planned that Ryan wouldn’t bring anything. Then again, he probably could predict a few more things just from what Ryan has been like and what he’s said around Delirious and the group. Ryan shivered at the thought of how much of an open book he was to Delirious. He had let out so much to Delirious the one night, and he probably stalked his past. After all, Vanoss brought up his family and every main thing he remembered about his siblings and parents. Maybe he had shared that information with Delirious, or maybe he didn’t Either way, Delirious knew him too much and the vice versa was not true. Ryan almost knew nothing- actually, he really did know nothing about Delirious beside his name. Even then, Delirious wasn’t his real name. Who would even name their child Delirious?

The two exited the building and Ryan groaned and quickly moved his arm to his forehead, blocking most of the sun. He had forgotten how bright and warm it was supposed to be that day.

“The sun isn’t too bad once you embrace it, it’s like.. What’s a good comparison?”

“Death?” Ryan answered without hesitation and the two began to laugh at his answer.

“Well that’s one way to go, but how about- um, water! Yeah. They always say dunk your head under it and you’ll be fine or whatever. That’s what you’ve got to do except you can’t dunk your head in the sun or you’ll die.”

“Oh no, I thought I could survive if I dipped my head in the actual sun.”

“I’m just trying to be friendly and this is the thanks I get.”

“You call being friendly saying let’s fight but oh wait- I won’t tell you until it’s too late.”

“That’s always the beginning of a great friendship my dear Ohm.”

“If we were a duo I would so be Sherlock, not Watson.”

“Yeah yeah, the fighting area is over here.” Delirious motioned towards an area of rocks that formed a rectangle and had poorly wired fencing closing it in.

“I’m just saying. I’m the more detective one and would probably figure things out a lot quicker than you.” Ryan teased and from the corner of his eye, he could see Delirious turn his head slightly to look at him before sticking his tongue out.

“Quite mature Delirious.”

“Only for you Ohmie~”

“O-Ohmie?” Ryan began to cough, choking on air as his face began to burn. Did he really just get called Ohmie? Out of all of the names Delirious could’ve said..

“Yeah man. I think it’s a good nickname. It shows you’re a big bad guy but have a soft heart.” Delirious teased as he handed one of the water bottles to Ohm, letting him drink it to calm down his current (internally) burning body and racing mind.

He had never gotten a nickname, aside Ohm, but he gave himself that. The wrecker part came from being able to take down multiple men of twice his size on different missions. He had also been called MaskedGamer because he was always playing with lives as if they were a game but he had never been recognized, as if an invisible mask was blocking the way of anyone ever seeing his face. Ryan preferred Ohm though, it matched him more if he had to say so himself.

The two arrived and split up at different ends, setting their stuff down next to the rocks.

Ohm steadied himself into a fighting stance as Delirious looked more relaxed, unnerved, as if he knew he was going to win. To be a little honest, it did tick him off. How could someone be so cocky without ever going against their opponent.

Then again Delirious knew way more about Ryan then Ryan did about Delirious and to say the least, it wasn’t that fair. Maybe Delirious wasn’t an open guy or whatever but Ryan was still curious about the other’s past or what he was thinking as he watched Ryan’s movements before yelling _GO._

Both boys ran forward and Delirious threw the first punch towards Ryan’s gut, who had been able to dodge it. Delirious quickly spun and had been able to get a hit on his left shoulder while Ryan was trying to study his moves. Deciding to get some distance and just dodge for now to watch Delirious’ movements, Ryan backed up and ducked towards the right as a punch to his shoulder again came forward.

So far, Ryan had been able to tell that a punch to the shoulder meant thumbs tucked in a little hole that his fingers covered and left arm bent and coming forward.

While Ryan had been having his little moment, Delirious now aimed a punch towards his right shoulder, his thumb now on the outside and curled. It was the opposite of what Delirious had done before.

Ryan backed up, both of his shoulders hurt now. He had to be on the attack while keeping a good defense or else he would be beaten easily. The only thing confusing him was why the two punches were different. Sure, it might be because Delirious was weak with one arm and doing the one motion might improve the power or control while the other had the less professional technique.

As Delirious went in for a punch, which Ryan saw through as it came, Ryan decided to make an offensive move and aim at his kidney. His punch went through yet as he backed up, Delirious didn’t look the bit fazed. Getting hit in the kidney would surely do something to you.. Yet Delirious looked like the same from before the hit. Ryan decided that Delirious was either some immortal being or something where he was immune to punches or that he was hurting but was really good at faking that he was all good.

After more punches and dodging, Ryan had thought that he had been able to map out every hint towards each move. Except he didn’t. He didn’t remember that Delirious was always counted as a wildcard, and that everyone had one. But he didn’t know how many Delirious had.

With Ryan retreating backwards, eyes still on Delirious, his mind flashed to remember his time in the ring. His time fighting older men who beat him to a pulp with no mercy just like what Delirious was doing. Except it was sort of different. Ryan knew Delirious wouldn’t injure him as bad as those guys did.

But Ryan couldn’t help but picture Delirious as one of those guys. His body began to freeze in place and his body began to grow hot like fire. As this began to happen, Delirious tackled him and the two rolled until they hit the old fence.

Being knocked out of thought, Ryan quickly looked up at Delirious who currently was lying on top of him, arms pinned on both sides of Ryan’s head. Ryan was silently thankful for Delirious knocking him out of his trance, but was currently to say anything as Delirious stared down at him.

“Stop it Ohm.” Delirious ordered and Ryan felt frozen, much different than before because his body actually stayed cool.

“I-I’m sorry,” Ohm apologized and looked away. “I just had a memory and such an-”

“I know you did. And I had to tackle you. But... What if next time you get in too deep and they push you in the water? What if they, instead of tackling you, they murder you there?”

“Wha- Delirious what are you saying?” Ryan asked quickly and rolled, causing Delirious to fall off of his body.

Delirious got up on his own, sitting on his knees for now as his gaze fell back on Ryan who kept looking anywhere but Delirious.

“I’m saying that as much as you would hope that you’ve learned from your past and all that, you haven’t. If you did, you wouldn’t be having these thoughts and you would be able to be you. Ohm, you kept fighting because you held onto the past, you found something to keep going on for. But now? Now you need to find something new and healthy to keep you fighting.”

“I’m just fin-”

“Ryan. Why won’t you listen to me? Why won’t you listen to the fact that I know these things because hey, you’re not the only who went through struggles and keeps holding onto the past when they just want to let go!” Delirious’ voice raised near the end and Ryan flinched at the sudden rise in his tone.

“Delirious..” He let out sympathetically, his gaze focused on Delirious.

“I.. I just don’t want you to fuck up like I did, okay? I won’t go into it, but holding onto your past is far from healthy. As much as you’d like to think you’ve gotten over it or are able to just ignore it, you never can. What’s done is done and all the innocent people who you’ve murdered in the dark are dead. They can’t be brought back to life and reunited with people who care about them... A-And I just want you to realize that. Stop letting some gang experience get in your way of being your best. Sure, guys might have been tough here and there but they aren’t holding you back now.”

“... Then who is?” Ryan asked hesitantly, his voice barely audible to his own ears even in the silence of the field.

“You are.”

They stayed silent and Delirious silently got up and began to walk away from Ryan who lied in thought in the grass. He suddenly stopped and kept his back turned still, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Before I go, Ohm, I know it’s hard to get over your past and you won’t do it in a day or two, but keep in mind what I said. Don’t let your past be an obstacle to you when you could face it and realize that it’ll make you stronger.” He finished off, his voice shaky but mostly confident, saying the words a bit slow before he headed towards his original side, going to grab his towel and water bottle.

He seemed tired from the way his body sluggishly moved and how his strides seemed so much slower compared to when they first started the match. He just seemed slow overall.

 _‘So he really isn’t immune.. At least I know that he’s just as human as any other person.’_ Ryan thought and began to sit up, a sudden headache taking the place over his mind.

Maybe staying on the ground would’ve been a lot better than suffering from a headache as he walked back to the warehouse alone. But he had time to think about what Delirious had said.

Fuck up like he did? Ohm was even more curious as to what the hell had happened in the clown boy’s past. He must’ve murdered some innocent person here or there that he probably regretted for years. Or maybe he screwed up the life someone close to him?

Speaking of people close to Delirious, Ryan hasn’t really had a chance to talk with Cartoonz one on one. As much Ryan was tempted to ask Cartoonz about Delirious’ past, he knew he couldn’t That would be a serious invasion of privacy and Ryan already felt the guilt of his actions for even thinking that might be the best choice. As much as he thought Delirious trusted him, he knew that he was still being trusted by everyone.

Sure, he may now play for their side, but who knows. Maybe Ryan wanted more revenge and he may possibly murder them while they slept. Of course, Ryan wouldn’t do it, but he was a bit paranoid that that’s what the guys might be thinking about him. No.. They aren’t that mean.

Then again he barely knew any of them like how they knew each other. He probably knew the most of Brock’s past or Lui’s just because of Vanoss telling him about past recruits.

What if he became a past recruit on this mission? He didn’t really bond with anyone so if Bryce were to ask the same question that Ryan asked Vanoss in the beginning, what would his leader say? Would he say that Ohm had been no valuable asset to the team because he was only on his first mission when he died? That he was some amaeteur they accidentally hired, thinking he could be great like them?

Ryan stopped in mid walk, his brain hurting more now. He let out a louder groan and tried to ignore the pain by subsiding it as he began to pick up his pace and thought about his current team and himself again.

Going back to what Vanoss would’ve said, what about his now dead boss? His dead boss probably would’ve had more to say, except he wouldn’t have. He did the exact same thing for thee right hand man before him. Once he died, Ryan was brought up and worked loyally for him, gritting his teeth every time his boss said something offensive or every time his boss said some stupid remark. Every time, Ryan had to bite his tongue immediately so he wouldn’t say something that would cause him to get it cut out for having such a sassy attitude towards his leader. He had heard rumors about it while he was in the gang but he had never seen anyone experience it or ever brought it up to his boss.

A good thing about being in the new gang was that you could approach Vanoss about anything, that wasn’t private manners of course. In his old gang, you had to request to see the boss and even then, most of the time he would avoid the question or if you tried to get too personal or said some comeback towards an answer, he would demand his bodyguards to teach the person a lesson. Honestly, a few times, Ryan had made that mistake before becoming the right hand man. He had said something smart back a couple of times and a  question to personal the one time, bit of a shame that he couldn’t  the question now, and the boss requested he be taken outside or to an unused closet nearby and taught a lesson about holding back his tongue or to stop being so curious.

Arriving at the door, he opened it to be greeted by a few people practicing in the gym and the cool air. In the gym, Tyler and Cartoonz were lifting weights while Brock and Craig worked on normal exercises. Ryan silently prayed to be silent but it didn’t help that as he entered, he let go off the door which caused it to slam shut, catching everyone’s attention.

Three of the four greeted him but Cartoonz had gotten up and approached Ryan at a bit over the average walking pace. Ryan gulped as Cartoonz placed a hand on his shoulder and motioned for them to talk outside of the training room. With a nod of agreeing, the two excused themselves from the room while the other three began to work once again.

“What the hell happened to Del?” Cartoonz asked as soon as the doors connecting the hallway and training room shut tight.

“We were practicing and he got angry.”

“About what?”

“I don’t know and that’s the issue. He isn’t being open and I just- I want someone to relate to and I’ve told him so much but all I know is that he regrets something in his past and he considers it a major fuck up.”

“Did he give any hints to what it was?”

“No and I respect his space and all but I’m curious as hell and I just want him to know I’m there but I feel like I’m wasting time trying to convey the message that I can be there for him.”

Cartoonz stayed silent, covering his mouth with his hands as he rocked back and forth on his heels as if he was thinking of some sort of plan.

“For now, just respect his privacy. He’ll come around soon I guess. And Ohm?”

“Yeah Cartoonz?”

“When you do approach him, tell him I forgive him.”

And with that last line, Cartoonz entered the training room again, leaving an even more confused Ohm standing the middle of the hallway, the last five words repeating in his head.

_Tell him I forgive him._

_Tell him I forgive him._

_Tell. Him. I. Forgive. Him._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late and not the best chapter, ive had a bit of a writers block lately so ;( also once again, this is my first time ever writing action so i apologize if the fight scenes are poorly written or could be, overall, much better.
> 
> but i was originally planning for this to be a two parter of del vs ohm then meeting / recruiting bryce but i decided to save that for next chapter because i feel like overall, that part will need its own chapter. but whos excited for bryce?? i know i am!!
> 
> anyways i hope you all enjoyed the chapter w/ mysterious but inspirational delirious and the mention of cartoonz. see you in the next one!


	5. Chapter 5

Waking up early was something Ryan did naturally. It was a habit he kept ever since it began in his childhood, when his mom would wake him and his siblings up for school. It was just something he had kept throughout the years naturally. Every few years though, he would have to wake up even earlier for a new school, and he would keep waking up at that time, maybe even earlier. It was just natural in his body to do so. While in the new gang so far, he had come to realize that only half of the crew would wake up early, including him. The other three who also woke up early were Vanoss, Brock, and Craig. Everyone else preferred to wake up on their own from what he could tell. To say the least, it was weird that when he woke up, everyone else was up and energized.  

Grabbing clothes and a towel, he left his room. When he exited his room, he was greeted by the sight of Delirious, Cartoonz, and Lui discussing something. He was too far to hear what they were talking about, but two of the three, Lui and Cartoonz, had noticed him. Delirious, who’s back was to him, hadn’t noticed that Ryan was there until the other two waved. Delirious turned around and smiled, also giving a small wave to Ryan which he gave a small wave back towards the three, heading to the bathroom. He balanced the items in one hand, using the other to open the bathroom door.

He hung the towel on top of the shower curtain railing and placed his clothes on the little rack that sat next to the tub. As he took off his t-shirt that he wore to bed, he turned to look at himself in the mirror, noticing that there was a purple bruise forming on his left shoulder from yesterday. It didn’t hurt at all but it was still an ugly bruise that was forming. It would heal soon enough though. Turning on the shower with one hand, he took off his pajama pants and boxers with the other. He found the right temperature, which was lukewarm, he got in, deciding to wash his hair first.

He began to think about the mission that day, wondering all of the possible outcomes. They would most likely recruit Bryce but there was a chance that they could accidentally kill him, he would take out one of them, etcetera, etcetera.

He continued to think as he finished his shower routine, mostly worrying about the mission today and surviving. Then again, in group missions with his old gang he would survive. And handling multiple men in a group at a time always worked for him so why was he so nervous about Bryce? He just a lone guy, sure he was tall but he looked weak. Then again the reference picture they used was from a year ago, so he could’ve gotten all tough and buff and could possibly take any of them down easily.

Then again he barely knew this guy. He barely knew Bryce. He didn’t know how dedicated he was to fighting or working out. He didn’t know hard he worked for these gangs. He didn’t know  _ anything  _ and that slightly scared him. Then again, Bryce barely knew anything about them and he was about to be forced to join the gang. For all he knew, Bryce could take the whole thing a lot different than him, more open to the situation than Ryan was. After all, Bryce did seem like a guy who went with the flow.

Deciding that he had spent enough time in the shower, he turned off the water and reached for his towel, wrapping it around his waist. He stayed in the shower, the water slowly draining from the ankle level to now almost nothing. With a sigh, he decided to finally step out onto the bathroom rug which laid next to the tub. His eyes went to the mirror which was foggy, not letting him see how he looked.

When was the last time he really paid attention to what he looked like? These past days he didn’t really study himself. He would only glance into the mirror in his room and check if the clothes matched, and then he would leave. He studied what everyone else looked like, acted like, were like around certain people, except himself. Why? He grabbed a small hand towel that sat on the counter and wiped the fog off, leaving the residue still on the mirror. He could barely see himself but it was an improvement from the fog.

He saw himself. He saw a tall guy with wet brown hair that wasn’t maintained at all. He saw his torso that had black and blue marks along with little scratches here and there. Even though his mental self had changed, he didn’t at all. He took a deep breath and focused on getting changed now.

He grabbed the black t-shirt and pulled it over his head, sticking his arms through their slots and proceeded to pull it down his torso. He then got his underwear and undid the towel, drying his legs quickly then pulled his underwear up, then the dark blue jeans he had yet to wear.

He grabbed his dirty clothes and towel then opened the door, seeing the trio now gone from their spot and the whole hallway in general. Where would they have gone?

_ ‘Maybe downstairs for breakfast..’  _ Ryan thought then shrugged, heading towards his room which wasn’t far. Arriving at his room, he opened the door and took a few steps in before throwing his clothes and towel in the hamper. He did quick check up before leaving and shutting the door behind him.

He headed down the stairs and straight to the first floor, where everyone was currently standing in a circle in the middle of kitchen. They were talking in hushed voices and Ryan could barely hear. He took a few steps forward and the floorboards creaked, catching everyone’s attention. They dispersed an inch or two from each other and greeted Ryan as he stood in the doorway.

“M-Morning. If I may ask, what were you guys talking about?” All eyes went to Vanoss whose hands were behind his back.

“Well, now that you’re apart of our gang, we want you to feel comfortable and as if you are apart of our family. I know you may have bonded with some teammates more than others but we want you to know that everyone is here for you. And with being inducted into this far from family but family of ours, we give you this.” Vanoss said and brought his hands from his back to in front of Ryan, a dark gray bandana resting on his hands.

Ryan walked slowly towards his leader, disliking that everyone’s eyes were on him. He arrived in front of Evan and took the bandana in his hands, unfolding it to reveal on the front, a big  **Ω** in black on it. He couldn’t help the smile that formed on his lips as he held the gift in his hands. They specifically chose or maybe made the gift for him. They valued his presence this much that they actually gave him a bandana hat coordinated with him ..

“Thank you guys.” Ryan said weakly but with happiness, looking down at the ground. Because of his gaze so focused on the ground, he didn’t realize that the whole group had surrounded him and crushed him with a group hug.

“Welcome to the family.” One of the voices surrounding him said and Ryan couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh, forgetting everything in that moment aside the fact that he was cared about.

\--

After eating breakfast and helping clean up, Ryan was invited to the weapon room by Delirious, Craig, and Vanoss. They walked in pairs, Vanoss and Craig in front of Ryan and Delirious. They were talking about something with the new recruit, Bryce. Ryan barely paid attention, mostly studying the wall because he had yet to go down this hallway. The training room was right near the stairs and that was the only room he had gone to in the basement so he still had a lot more to explore.

The lights were dim and the walls were cement bricked, cracked and yelling for touch-up. Ryan wondered how long ago this building was built. The design was mostly new but there was still some old parts to it, mostly in the basement though.

They arrived at the room and Vanoss pushed open the door, everyone following after as he pushed the door all the way back, placing the door stopper down. He flicked on the lights, the room blinding Ryan’s eyesight for a moment. Once his vision wasn’t blinded by the bright lights, he looked around the room, amazed at all of the weapons they had. How had they collected so many types of guns, knives, and other weapons? They were probably expensive as hell so they must have had them shipped over but by who?

“Welcome to the weaponry room. Everyone else has had their chance to choose a weapon so go with whatever you’d like.” Vanoss said, knocking Ryan out of his thoughts.

Vanoss walked over to Delirious, both of them now looking over the weapons offered. Craig, on the other hand, knew what he wanted and had grabbed it. Craig had decided to go with a pistol because, at least this is what Ryan was thinking, he would be wherever (probably far from the fight) to hack the system and cameras so he would have protection from the fight so why bring some big gun that would be useless compared to the pistol?

Ryan headed towards the pistols, grabbing two of them, then towards the knives and chose one that looked pretty sharp. It was resting in its holder so he decided to take both, hoping to make it somehow connect to his belt.

He didn’t pay attention to what Delirious and Vanoss chose, thinking that he would probably just see it later. He said a quiet goodbye, leaving the two standing standing very close to each other. The two replied with a goodbye back, going back to making their decisions.

\--

“We ready?” Vanoss asked in a hushed whisper through his receiver to Cartoonz who currently was in an abandoned building nearby with Mini and Moo. They forgot to tell Ryan but apparently they had rented that building for a week and for the first few days had been setting up equipment, which explained why he sometimes didn’t see some of them. Then again, he had been spending a lot of time with Delirious…

Ryan shook his head as he stood close Vanoss, his breathing currently calm. He held one of his pistols with both hands, glancing towards Vanoss then the ocean every minute or so. The two hid behind one of the large crates, waiting for the other gang to arrive. Currently, the one without Bryce was there, just waiting on the other gang. It was almost sunset so it was a perfect time for a drug deal. No workers were there since their job ended hours ago and the lights were limited compared to the day.

“Ashvilli arrived and there’s not too many people from how many vehicles they brought. Get into positions and wait until my go.” Cartoonz said through his receiver which went into all of their ears.

Ryan tightened his bandana, praying for nothing to go wrong. He prayed for no memories to pop out of the blue and stop him from fighting or that no one would get hurt and a lot of other things that he knew that probably wouldn’t happen but there was a small chance that it could happen and he didn’t want that small chance actually happening. But then again, there was a bad feeling in his gut, making him want to tell Vanoss that there might be something  _ really  _ wrong.

He heard a new, loud voice talking. The person, most likely a male form how deep it sounded, had a hint of Italian in their accent as he spoke. There weren’t a lot of foot steps so hopefully they wouldn’t have to deal with that many people. The less people there were, the more chance there wouldn’t be a fatal injury.

“Wait guys.. Bryce isn’t there.” Cartoonz said through the receiver with loud concern.

Ryan looked at Vanoss with panic as his leader muttered curses then began to ask questions. Thoughts raced through Ryan’s mind, mostly consisting of  _ where the fuck is this dude? _

Then again, if Ryan were to be hosting a drug deal, he would get people to check the corridor. He would want people to stand guard, leaving himself vulnerable or with one or two guards. He would want everything checked and possibly cameraed. He would want everything to go perfect.. From all the time in a gang, he knew exactly what this meant.

“Vanoss we need to go.” Ryan whispered harshly, grabbing his leader's arm, making him turn to face him.

“Wha- why do you thin-”

“No Vanoss, I’m pretty sure it’s a trap.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Doesn’t everything seem too.. Easy? And where’s Bryce? Either this gang knew you wanted Bryce and wanted to lure us out to kill us or he is here but he’s hiding, waiting to attack one of us.”

Vanoss stayed silent, watching Ryan’s facial expression as it stayed panicked. Maybe he was right. After all, Ryan had spent far longer in a gang than he had so he probably did know.

“Okay. I’ll call into Cartoonz now and tell him.” Vanoss said and moved his hand towards the receiver and began to say his name, getting static in response.

“What the fuck.. Is the receiver working for you Ohm?”

Ryan tried to call into Cartoonz, only receiving static too.

“Nope. Should we just go meet them at the bui-” Ryan stopped as he was pushed out of the way and towards the right, dropping his pistol, the other and his knife still staying on his body.

He tumbled and when he stopped, which was at the exact moment of a gunshot, he looked up to see his leader holding his arm as some random guy stood there with a gun pointed towards Vanoss. He made himself recover, ignoring the burns on his arms and face that hurt like hell, as he pulled out his pistol, shooting the guys hand which held the gun at Vanoss.The guy cursed loudly as he dropped his gun and turned towards Ryan, who had been able to stand up by now, only to get knocked out on the back of his head by Vanoss’ elbow.

“You know, I had that covered.” Ryan said with a crooked grin as he walked towards the pistol he dropped, picking it up as Vanoss spoke.

“As did I-I-I!” Vanoss held out the “I” as he held his arm in pain.

Ryan rushed over and placed his hand on the opposite side of where the bullet wound was. He bit his lip as he tried to think of what the quickest way to the warehouse was.

“O-Ohm, we have to get to where Cartoonz, Moo, and Mini are. They c-could be in danger since they s-suspected us.”

“But where do we go to get there in the quickest time?”

“The m-middle but we can’t let them see us. We’re going to have to take the outside which won’t be bad as long as we.. we aren’t spotted.” Vanoss said slowly and Ryan nodded, grabbing the arm that wasn’t hurt and moved his hand down to Vanoss’ and took it in his.

“We’re going to make it to them, okay?”

“Not if I stop you.” A confident voice said from behind Ryan and he turned to see the guy they were looking for, Bryce.

Ryan gulped and looked towards Vanoss who seemed lost in a trance at the sudden surprise entrance from Bryce. What could they do? What could  _ he  _ do?

“Vanoss,” Ryan whispered so quietly he could barely hear himself. “When I tackle Bryce, you run as fast as you can and get to the building.”

“What about you?” Vanoss whispered in the same volume as Ryan.

“I’ll make it, just get back here with the gang as fast as you can.” Vanoss seemed hesitant, not trusting this plan since he was trusting the hope of keeping on the same level as Bryce to a new recruit who wasn’t the most mentally stable.

Then again, Ryan seemed so sure of himself that it did give Vanoss a bit of relief. From what he knew about Ryan, with a situation like this, he knew how to keep fighting even if odds were against him. After all, he did it for years while in his previous gang.

“Now.” Ryan whispered as Bryce took steps closer and Ryan dashed towards the taller male as Vanoss began to run past the two, glancing back towards his ally, mentally cursing himself for not being more useful in this situation.

Ryan had pushed his left shoulder into Bryce's chest, causing him to stumble backwards. He was nervous beyond belief, hoping that he was buying enough time for Vanoss.

“Quite the brave move you pulled there Ohm.” Bryce complimented as Ryan checked one more time to see if Vanoss was in sight, which he wasn’t anymore.

“Well thank you. And is my name that famous?”

“Ohmwrecker or Masked Gamer, quite an idol to some, including me. Started from nothing and is now in some goody two shoes gang.”

“Like you have any right to say that Mr. Perfect?”

“You’re getting off point. Anyways, you were an idol to me especially for some time. You were incredible so.. What happened?”

“This isn’t some therapy session Bryce.” Ryan said loudly, crossing his arms over his chest.

“So there is something wrong.” Bryce said with a shit eating grin that Ryan wanted to knock right off of his face.

“Anyways,” Bryce continued as he pulled out his knife and began to play with it. “I can’t wait to crush the famous Masked Gamer.”

“Surprised you didn’t use Ohm since that’s what I’m mostly known by.”

“I can tell by that mask. Why don’t you like Masked Gamer though? Does it bring back too many memories?”

“Stop-”

“Does it remind you of all of your victims? The innocent ones who did nothing wrong?”

“Why are you saying these things? Are you trying to prove you’re my number one stalker or something?”

“I didn’t do my studying for nothing Ohm. I want to break you so it’s a lot easier to kill you.”

“I take insult to that. Do I seem that easy?”

“I mean with your past, yes.”

“How the fuc-”

“When you’ve been around like me, you get people who owe you favors and will do things for you.”

“So what do you know?”

“Years of training gone to waste. The old Ohm would’ve attacked me by now.”

“Why are you so obsessed with the old Oh- me?”

“Because he would’ve been a lot more fun to tear down then murder than you.”

Ryan scoffed, cracking his knuckles as he watched Bryce slowly approach him. His mind mentally prepared him to jump back if Bryce were to make a move, whether it be dangerous or whatever else Bryce had planned to do.

Bryce, in mid step, lunged towards Ryan who quickly reacted by stepping towards the left, almost tripping over his feet as he did. He really needed to work on his balance if every fight was going to be like this with him side stepping. For now though, he just needed to keep his distance and watch Bryce.

Bryce grinned and collected himself before standing still in his spot, placing the hand with the knife on his hip. “Are you going to keep playing or actually fight? If you’re going to keep playing then I’m just going to keep doing the same thing over and over.”

“Looks like we’re at a standpoint then.” Ryan said as he moved his hand down to his pistol, wondering if he should or shouldn’t.

“You really think that’s a good idea? Injuring me? What would your new teammates, your leader who trusted you, think of that?” Bryce asked teasingly and Ryan’s eyebrow raised.

“What do you mean?”

“Won’t they think you’re more crazy than you are now? They may just think you’re weak because you couldn’t handle me without using a cheat, an unfair advantage.”

“No. They would understa-”

“You really think they’ll understand? They’re a good gang. Your ex-gang would understand more than these guys, so tell me, would these guys understand?”

Ryan stayed silent and Bryce laughed and placed his knife away before approaching the other. Once in front of the shorter male, he placed a hand on Ryan’s shoulder and the other under his chin. He tilted Ryan’s chin up so they were looking at each other.

“How about we make a deal?” Bryce proposed.

\--

“We have to get to him quickly.” Delirious said in a panicked tone as him, Cartoonz, and Wildcat ran to where Vanoss told them where Ohm had been left.

“We’re right there, don’t worry.” Cartoonz said confidently as they turned the last corner to see Ryan pining Bryce down.

“Good job Ohm.” Wildcat called out and received a thumbs up back.

The three approached the two and were surprised to see barely any scratches on either of them. None of them said anything, deciding to just hurry up and take Bryce back to their base before he can do anything else.

“So, what happened with everyone else?” Ryan asked Cartoonz quietly as Delirious, Bryce, and Wildcat walked ahead of them.

“Everyone’s okay except Vanoss. We got everyone making the drug deal so we’re all good. How about you though?”

“A-All good. We got Bryce so that’s all that matters.”

“So does our safety. And that includes you.”

“I’m all good, see? No scratches.” Ryan chuckled, concerning Cartoonz because how could someone have no scratches and seem so energized.

“Wait, how did you defeat him?”

“Who?”

“Bryce obviously. Who else would I be talking about?”

“It wasn’t hard. Training has helped.” Cartoonz nodded, not believing what Ryan said 100%.

“Yeah, anyways thanks for helping Vanoss earlier. When he arrived where we were, everyone was there except you and Lui. You should’ve seen how much Delirious was freaking out.”

“I’m guessing a lot?”

“More than that. Him and Vanoss have a more unique relationship than him and I. We’re more like brothers while him and Vanoss have a.. Spark? Sadly they’re both complete idiots to it.”

“Such a shame.” Ryan joked, earning a quiet laugh from Cartoonz.

“Is everyone okay though?”

“Yeah, but Moo said that his arm will heal in no time, as long as he doesn’t strain it or try to do anything too bad.” Ryan nodded and the two walked in silence, listening to the conversation the three were having in front of them.

Minutes passed and soon they arrived at the place where everyone was relaxing, waiting on the last four, maybe five if they had successfully gotten Bryce, to arrive. When the knock on the door came, Craig was the one to open it quickly to reveal the people they were waiting for.

“You guys are back-” Craig said relieved.

“And you’ve got Bryce.” Vanoss said with surprise.

“Yep!” Delirious said proudly and everyone entered the building, sitting down wherever it was possible.

“So, Bryce.” Vanoss began and Bryce looked up at him, deciding to interrupt him.

“I accept the offer and will gladly join this group.” Bryce answered and quickly looked towards Ohm then back at Vanoss, who looked more surprised than anything, as did the gang.

“But- wait, how did you know?”

“Your Ohm here, while pinning me down, told me about the plan and made it sound quite appealing so.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t appealing just because of him?” Brock muttered, receiving snickers from all around, even from Bryce.

“Maybe, but I agreed to it. Now can we go? I want to sleep and would rather not stay on this floor forever.”

“Sure.” Vanoss answered quickly and called everyone to get up, ordering Ohm to specifically take Bryce out to the van.

“See, told you it would work.” Bryce whispered in Ryan’s ear as he leaned heavily against the shorter male.

“I didn’t doubt you but now everyone thinks we might have something going on.”

“Maybe we should keep it like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know this chapter took longer than it should but the plans i did have changed and i just hope you all enjoyed how it finally turned out. i also want to give a huge thanks to my beta for helping out and talking to me the whole time.
> 
> honestly this chapter was fun to write and i know bryce/ohm seem a bit ooc, especially bryce, but its because 1) in this fanfic, someones gotta have the bitch attitude and bryce was right there and 2) bryce has a ton of control in his life so! he was perfect for it
> 
> but once again, thank you all for the amazing support! this fanfic is going a lot better than i expected and writing it is always such a blast! see you all in the next chapter :)


	6. Chapter 6

"Ryan!" A gentle, feminine voice called from afar, catching Ryan's attention from the nothingness he was staring at.

"Yes mom?" He called back, turning to look at the person who called for him, which was his own mom.

She was a pale, tall woman whose face was shaped long and in a heart shape sort of. Her eyes were the same overall blue color like her sons, but hers were more greyish blue that still managed to radiate her kindness and glass like heart. Her lips were pressed together in a warm smile as she watched her son with soft eyes. Her hair was a dark brown, much darker than her sons, and was cut in a bob style. Black rimmed oval glasses rested on the bridge of her nose. She let out a quiet breath, crossing her arms over her chest as her son began to get up.

That's when he realized he wasn't a kid. He was himself in that present day. He couldn't see his face but from how long his legs were and how much hair was on his arms, he could tell. He slowly began to walk to his mother in disbelief of the fact that she stood there. It was his mom.

His walk slowly picked up into barely a jog which then turned into running, sprinting almost. His mom was gone but here she was, standing there, waiting for her son. As he reached her, he opened his arms, crashing right into her. Expecting to feel warmness and a wholeness, there was nothing. The woman he wrapped his arms around felt hollow and cold, as if she wasn't there at all.

The woman, his mother, let out a warm laugh that he always heard throughout his childhood. She didn't move her arms to put them around her son but kept them close to her chest still.

"Mom..?" He asked as she smiled at her son, moving a hand up to his face and placing it on his cheek.

Her hand was colder than what he felt when hugging her but that didn't matter. His body slowly went from warm to cold as the pale hand stayed on his cheek, not moving at all.

"I love you Ryan." She whispered and he let out a laugh of relief, feeling himself smile widely at the sight of his mom.

"I miss you." He whispered back, voice barely audible, letting his arms drop to his side as she took the hand away.

Though his body began to feel warm and comfortable again, he wanted the feeling of her hand back on his cheek as it were before. He wanted to just feel like his mom was still there somehow and not dead. He didn't want to remember memories from years ago anymore. He couldn't do it anymore, he just coul-

"I'm sorry." She whispered and held her hand out as it slowly began to disappear into the air like snow but in a lightish purple color.

"No." His voice was barely heard by himself, but he could hear how pathetic it sounded, watching as half of his mother was now gone.

"No!" He yelled and lunged forward as her gentle smile disappeared, along with the rest of her.

He didn't catch himself and fell onto the ground, his body tumbling a few feet before stopping. He looked back to where his mother stood moments ago, now seeing nothing.

"Ohm." A distant voice said and Ryan turned to look around, seeing nothing but the open land and clear blue sky with no clouds.

"Ohm." The voice sounded closer and he covered his ears, wanting this voice to be gone and for his mom to be back.

"Ohm." The voice was right next to him now and he wanted to get up and run but his body felt frozen in place.

His eyes shot open as the last "Ohm," was said and he realized that even though it was a dream, it still felt more real than it should have.

"Ohm?" The voice said from behind and he turned quickly, seeing Delirious standing there with concerned baby blue eyes and furrowed eyebrows, lips pursed as Ryan realized that he was okay.

_'It was just a dream.'_ He told himself mentally and remember his mom, trying not to choke up at the thought that it was a dream and that she never will be there for him in real life.

"Y-Yeah?" He answered quietly, turning away from Delirious who stood next to his bed, concerned about his friend.

"You doing okay? You didn't wake up at your usual time so I couldn't help but be a bit concerned."

"Just fine," He let out with a weak voice then faked a yawn. "Though.. I'm still a bit tired so, is it okay if I go back to sleep?"

"Yeah. Just call any of us up if you need anything or just get it on your own if you would rather be independent."

"Sounds good. Thanks Delirious."

"No problem Ohm." Delirious walked towards the doorway and turned, giving one last small wave to his friend before closing the door behind him.

Letting out a deep breath while annoyed at the fact that he wasn't tired, he stayed in bed. His eyes stared up at the ceiling, mind racing with whatever. His mom's smile kept popping up and he felt something tug at his heart as he thought about her kind smile, even in her last moments. He wished they could've grown older so he could hear more of her stories. He wanted to hear about something rebellious she did during her teenage years or the over used "how your dad and I fell in love" story that his siblings, mostly his younger brother though, would always ask. Whenever he asked that, her expression would turn loving with pursed lips and eyes that would meet her kids as a blush would start to appear on her cheeks.

She would begin with how they were introduced to each other through one of their friends. The night they had been introduced, the group was planning on seeing a hit movie in their day. Everyone else had their partners to sit with, so his mom and dad naturally paired up being the last two who didn't have partners. That night, they only saw each other as friends. They focused on the movie and not each other, but when they began to hang out one on one, that's when his mother had begun to realize all the little things about his dad.

That's when she really noticed what foods he liked and disliked or how he would smile whenever it began to rain, not admitting it to anyone though. She would study what subjects he would talk about that made him have this one particular smile that she had grown to want to see on his face every minute of the day. She had begun to truly fall in love with an idiot who was allergic to pineapples yet made the mistake of making his first legal of age alcoholic drink a piña colada.

Whenever she told this story, she would watch all of her kids expressions as they listened carefully, enjoying every moment of it. They enjoyed hearing their mother's smooth voice laced with kindness and love as she told the story. She rarely used that voice so it always was a pleasure to see her so happy and so content with everything that had happened.

Ryan wondered if she knew what his dad had been doing but still risked everything because this was the man she fell in love with. He wondered if love was so powerful that it made you do crazy things like that.

Would he ever experience love?

"Ohm~" The all too familiar voice of Bryce called from the other side of his door.

"What do you want?" He asked as the door began to open, revealing the taller male.

"I just wanted to talk to you, get to know you better."

"Says my number one stalker." Ryan teased, causing the other to roll his eyes as he took a seat on the end of Ryan's bed.

"Ha ha ha, so clever. But I want to get to know," Bryce leaned closer and brought his hand up and placed his finger on Ryan's nose. "You."

Ryan let out a sigh and brought his hand up to grab Bryce's pulling the taller boy's hand away from Ryan's face. He decided not to let go of Bryce's hand only because of the warmness that radiated from it. He brought their hands down to rest against the side of his bed as Ryan spoke again.

"What do you even want to know?"

"Mostly why you're here. Why you aren't in a different gang that you would be of more use to. I'm not saying you're useless but you've gotten weak."

"Have you ever thought about who a person truly is after murdering them?" Ryan asked seriously and made Bryce let go of his hand as he brought that hand close to him, thinking about it.

"Not really."

"Well what if they had a family? What if they had a nice wife and two children waiting for him to come home but all they get is the news that his body had been abandoned near their favorite pizza shop or near some park that they took frequent trips to?"

"Aren't they selfish though?"

"What-"

"Wouldn't they be selfish for getting their family involved? For hurting the people they love? I mean, if I had a family, I would make up an excuse and get far away from them. These people have choices to leave and protect their families but they're selfish. They don't want to be alone and they don't want to learn how to survive off of the streets."

Ryan bit his lip, thinking about his dad. Was his dad really that selfish? He was such a good guy though, he provided for his family and would play games with his children, enjoying the time he spent with them. Why had a woman as amazing as his mom, choose to stay with someone so selfish?

"What about love though? I mean, don't you want to spend the last moments with the people you love?" Ryan was now sitting up, watching Bryce as he pursed his lips, eyebrows furrowing about it.

"Why are you so dedicated to defending people who are so selfish?"

"Because maybe they really weren't selfish."

"You would defend them, Mr. I've seen the light suddenly."

Ryan let out a groan and got out of his bed, moving so he stood in front of Bryce.

"How about you actually try to consider what I'm saying instead of sitting on that throne and keeping that snooty attitude that all people are as bad and selfish as _you_." Ryan finished and turned, heading out of the door which was left open by the shocked male who sat in shock from Ryan's (harsh) words.

Ryan headed towards the stairs and went down three floors, ending up on the first one, which no one surprisingly resided on in that moment. He headed straight for the front doors and opened one up, letting it slam shut behind him as he began to walk out, unsure as to where the fuck he was going. He just knew that it was currently far from there.

He headed down the long pathway as the city of Los Santos sat in the distance. As much as he was going to regret the walk back, it was nice that he was out of the house and away from Bryce.

Ryan began to mumble curse words as Bryce ran through his mind with that perfect attitude and perfect teasing smile and just perfect everything which really grinded Ryan's gears. For someone who seemed so perfect he wasted it on being apart of gangs and being up for hire whenever and wherever. Ryan crossed his arms across his chest, digging his nails into his shoulders as he wanted to curse out Bryce. How did someone annoy him so much without even knowing him for one whole day?

\--

"Where the fuck am I?" Ryan let out quietly as he walked a street in Los Santos as the sun had started to set.

He arrived in the city about 30 minutes earlier and had been aimlessly walking around, enjoying the feeling of being back in the city at least. But it was also bad because he was expecting some gang war to begin or someone to possibly murder him any moment. He enjoyed the city, even with the violence. It was what made Los Santos, Los Santos after all.

Arriving near the beach, Ryan sighed softly and took off his shoes as he stepped onto the cool sand, feeling almost at home. He began to walk closer to the ocean, looking around and noticing things. On his right sat the pier, lit up with colorful light as the ferris wheel spun slowly. He could hear children laughing loudly and distant classic carnival music. On his left were teenagers having a bonfire, alcohol and supplies for s'mores surrounding them. The teenagers were talking loudly, mostly one or two because there was a story about how one of them almost got caught doing something being told. Even though he wasn't near it, he could feel the warmness of the fire.

He arrived close to the ocean and took a seat, the waves washing up to his bare feet but no farther. His thoughts focused on what sat in front of him. He knew this wasn't smart, being away from the house for this long, but it gave him comfort. He felt like he was home just sitting on the beach, enjoying the loud noises of people talking and the smell of the ocean mixed with cigarettes which had been burnt out. He loved the fact that even though this city was so messed up, he could still have moments like this, sitting by the ocean in peace.

He could enjoy his thoughts and no one would bother him. It had been years since he could do this, just enjoy the ocean. His ex gang rarely let him leave, only for jobs and errands he had to run for the boss. Aside from that, he was always inside their base. It had been years since he could really take in what the beach smelled like and how soft sand felt under his feet.

He felt guilty though, not telling his current gang where he went. But then again, he was justified with his action in his own way. If they had to deal with Bryce the way he did, they would want to take a break like this. He could feel the anger build up with every second of Bryce in his thoughts, so he looked out at the ocean and the anger began to subside immediately.

Hearing a distant yell that almost sounded like his name, he turned quickly, but saw nothing. He let out a sigh of relief and began to plan out the apology in his mind for tomorrow, knowing that they would want an apology from him. He just hoped that they wouldn't be too angry with him, after all, he did just up and leave so suddenly without any reasoning.

Then he thought about him and Bryce's conversation. He winced at his harsh words, feeling bad for them. He considered the things he said and realized he was also in the same boat as Bryce. He didn't consider these people who are selfish. Being raised with a dad who was so amazing in his eyes, Ryan was a bit biased about those people now.

Maybe there were people who stayed with their families because they're selfish, but that also meant that the others stayed with their families because they loved them.

Hearing distant voices slowly become louder as they passed, Ryan decided to keep his face hidden and keep his gaze focused on the ocean as he tuned into the conversation.

"-an. Did ya hear about the recent drug deal with that one gang?"

"Yea, I heard that Ohm guy was involved." Ryan's heart beat quickened pace at the mention of his name

"The guy who killed his boss?"

"Ye' also, did you hear that The Pigmies ar-" The conversation had been officially too far from earshot for Ryan but now he was curious as hell as to what the fuck was going on with his ex gang.

His head turned to look at the guys who now were too far and he felt the quickened heart pace slowly fall back into a normal one. What the fuck had happened with The Pigmies?

\--

The sun was rising when Ryan woke up, soaked, cold, and uncomfortable. Waking up on the beach seemed like a nice thing when said, but actually done? It was hardly comfortable. It also didn't help he fell asleep right as the tide had slowly begun to inch up a few, soaking his clothes. He was lucky that it didn't accidentally drown him though. He blinked his eyes a few times as he tried to look around but was basically blind with all of the sand in his eyes.

Man he really wished for one of his teammates at that moment, and that even included Bryce.

After sitting there in soaked clothes and keeping his eyes closed, he opened them up to be relieved at the fact that his sight wasn't so blurry anymore. He got up, not caring honestly if anyone judged him for his soaked clothes. He put on his shoes, not caring if it felt uncomfortable with all of the sand, and began to walk the way he came, wanting to get back to the base as soon as possible.

\--

Climbing up the hill was the toughest part, especially when his body felt so worn out and the soaked clothes held him down. But he was almost there and once he was there, he could explain, apologize, then shower and actually sleep in a comfortable bed. He smiled and felt his heart warm up at the thought of a bed with a nice mattress and blanke-

His eyes fell upon the few cars that sat in front of the base, along with the team who all were talking to each other. Each one of his mates had weapons and were dressed in casual clothing. What was happening?

"OHM!" Cartoonz's loud voice yelled and everyone looked to where the soaked and shivering boy and stood as Cartoonz ran up to him, embracing him with a warm hug, not caring about the fact that he was soaked.

Everyone else followed and stood in front of Ryan as Cartoonz backed up, standing in the open spot next to Bryce.

"Where were you?"

"What the fuck happened?"

"Are you okay?"

"Why are you soaked?"

Ryan was bombarded with questions and man did he regret leaving the house.

"Well, first of all, I'm sorry for leaving without reason or anything. I didn't think or anything about my consequences until it was sort of too late," Ryan then turned to Bryce and he took a few steps closer, taking the taller boy's hands in his own. "And I'm sorry Bryce for getting so angry with you. We're both in the same boat because I guess I was a bit biased on that topic. We both need to be more open with this I guess?"

"Yeah, we do." Bryce answered simply and Ryan dropped his hands then moved back to his original spot.

"Again, I apologize a lot. I- I didn't mean to make it end like this," Ryan said as he eyed the cars. "I didn't mean to worry you guys so much. It just felt so nice being in the heart of Los Santos again and again, I'm sorry."

Moments of silence passed before Vanoss' usual confident voice broke the silence, but this time, there was something else mixed with the confidence. And that was relief.

"We're just happy that you're okay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing this at 4am was a blast ahaha murder mE. i start school in 5 days and my sleep schedule is the actual worst im gonna die. also, thanks again to my amazing beta for helping w/ this, you are a great person. 
> 
> but with this chapter, i tried to show how different these two are and how they are lowkey rivals. but as most stories go, rivals then have some sort of bonding moment which brings them closer ;)
> 
> anyways, thank you all for the amazing support once again!! i always love writing this story and im so happy that people are just as excited as i am for what may come. see you all in the next chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

Waking up early was always nice in Ryan’s opinion. The light was barely shining yet so he wasn’t blinded and no one else was awake usually, so this was a time of peace and thinking about whatever he wanted or desired. When he woke up that morning, he decided to change it up by letting his feet take him to wherever they wanted. 

 

His feet, or maybe it was his mind, whatever the mysterious force was, chose to take him to one of the gardens outside that had a bench next to it. He hadn’t really visited the gardens that much, but the first day he came here, he remembered seeing multiple of them and being amazed for some reason. 

 

His mind thought about the accident a few days before and he felt his face burn in embarrassment, feeling bad for the most part that he had worried everyone so much that they almost sent a search party after him. He did want to visit the beach again, but maybe this time, he could warn them or just leave a note stating that he was going to the beach and the guys would understand? He could only hope.

 

The beach was the closest thing that felt like home currently. As much as he wanted to believe this base would be his home, he knew it wouldn’t truly be. They probably still viewed him as an outsider with mental problems that, to Ryan, seemed hard to come over, but to them, they might just think of them as simple problems with easy solutions.

 

Then again, had any of them gone through what he had? Had any of them been in an gang before this one? 

 

“Nice to see you out here.” The oh so familiar voice of the cocky blonde interrupted Ryan’s thoughts.

 

“I would say the same thing back but you’re not the most pleasant thing around here.” Ryan said with a grin as he sat up straight, crossing his arms over his chest.

 

“Ouch. You really know how to hurt me Ohm.”

 

“It is my job to harm people after all.”

 

“Mmm,” Bryce hummed as he sat down next to Ohm. “You know, you still have to take up your part of the deal.”

 

“I know. I just haven’t had the chance to go out.”

 

“Oh yes Mr. I left the house one day.”

 

“That was your fault.”

 

“I wonder if I could do it again?”

 

“I wonder if you know when to shut your fucking mouth.”

 

“Maybe you can use those nice lips of yours to do it.”

 

Ryan turned his head to glare at the blonde who’s elbow sat on his thigh as his head rested on his hand, a shit eating grin along with mesmerizing blue eyes looking right back at him. He resisted gritting his teeth or saying something rude, so he just let out a huff of breath and turned back to the garden.

 

“Aw, nothing to say? I thought we were getting along.” 

 

“With a comment like the one you made, I would rather not.”

 

“You don’t need to be so childish about it.”

 

“Oh yeah, I’m the one being childish?”

 

“Do you want me to answer that or..?” Bryce trailed off and Ryan let out an exasperated sigh as the blonde sat back, leaning on the bench.

 

“Also, Ohm, our deal? I advise you should complete that soon or I may have to pull back and leave, then you’ll have to explain.”

 

“I know Bryce, trust me. I just have some things to do currently and killing a family member of yours isn’t exactly on the top of my list..”

 

“But it is on mine.”

 

“Well I advise you get that list reorganized because that is pretty fucked up.”

 

“You’re the one that agreed.”

 

“Because I had no other choice.”

 

“Oh my poor, weak Ohm,” Bryce paused and moved himself so that an arm was wrapped around Ohm’s shoulders. “That doesn’t give you any excuse. Murder the old man for me soon though and maybe I’ll give you another reward for it.” 

 

Ryan felt repulsed at the thought of Bryce being pleasured at the idea of his uncle dying. He didn’t even explain why he wanted this old guy dead but apparently it was important to Bryce.

 

“Why do you even want him dead?” Ryan asked with curiosity, eyeing the blonde. 

 

“He stood in the way of many things throughout my life. Simple as that.”

 

“That isn’t that simple.. It’s more like a general idea.”

 

“Here, I’ve got an idea. How about when you complete this, I’ll tell you whatever you want but there will be a limit.”

 

“What’s the limit?”

 

“6, but I might raise it the sooner you get this over with.”

 

“If you accompany me on the mission then sure. We just need to get the weapons without them seeing, or with a valid reason. Also a car.”

 

“I can cover that, you just get ready to kill a man.”

 

“Wait, we’re doing it today?”

 

“The sooner the better, bunny.”

 

“Bunny?” Ryan quietly, but harshly asked.

 

“It’s a cute nickname, can’t argue that.”

 

“Oh my go-”

 

“Hey you two.” A new voice popped in from behind, a good amount of feet away.

 

The two turned to see their leader, Evan, standing there with a tired looking Delirious.

 

“Hey Evan.” Bryce greeted and Ryan just waved at the two.

 

“How did you find us?” Ryan curiously asked and Evan looked down at Delirious, a small grin on his face, before turning back to the two.

 

“We checked your rooms and you weren't in there. The next result was to just look around randomly. Breakfast is ready for you two, unless you want to spend more time out here.” Evan chuckled, giving them a wink.

 

Ryan realized what Evan meant behind that wink and as their leader turned around, Ryan almost spoke up, about to protest that him and Bryce were  _ not  _ in a relationship and would  _ not  _ be for as long as Ryan is alive and breathing and has a single brain cell. He stopped, deciding that it would be for the better not to yell this early. Ryan still felt a bit tired and breakfast did sound pretty nice. 

 

The leader and his clown sidekick sauntered away, leaving the previous two alone once again. Ryan bit his lip, unsure whether to make conversation. He didn’t mind the silence, just not for too long. Especially with someone like Bryce who you could never tell what he was thinking about.

 

“Breakfast sounds nice, wanna get some?” The blonde asked, cutting through the silence.

 

“Sounds good.” Ryan answered fairly quick.

 

“Are you that excited to head somewhere with me?” Bryce teased as the two got up and started to walk to the front doors of the building.

 

“Far from it. I’d have to lose all of my brain before being excited to go somewhere with you.” Ryan grinned as Bryce opened the door for him.

 

“You do know how to hurt me so Ryan.” 

 

“Good.” 

 

////

 

“There you are!” A loud, friendly voice said, scaring Ryan out of his day dream.

 

“What the he- o-oh, hey Brock.” Ryan said, looking at the brunette.

 

“Evan wants you down in his office. My guess is probably a job.”

 

“I didn’t think I would get one so soon.” Ryan commented as he stood up and left the card game spread out on the table as he joined Brock’s side.

 

“I mean, you are a trusted member-”

 

“Even after me leaving for that day?”

 

“Even after.” Brock stated, placing his hand on Ryan’s as they approached Evan’s office.

 

“Have fun on your mission.” Brock chuckled, patting Ryan on the back as the latter walked into his leader's office, the other heading back to his own business.

 

The door to Evan’s office was open so Ryan peeked in, seeing not just Evan, but also Bryce there, the two of them quietly talking about something that seemed not too serious since the both of them were grinning. Ryan took an unnecessary deep breath, deciding that maybe he was thinking of this too much, but then again, Bryce was one of his least favorite people currently. He pushed open the door, catching the attention of the other two males.

 

“Nice to see you Ryan.” Evan said as he stayed where he was positioned, sitting on the desk and slouched, arms crossed on his chest.

 

“What Vanoss said.” Bryce greeted as he sat up in the chair he was sitting in, gesturing to the other for Ryan to take a seat.

 

Ryan took a few steps and moved to in front of the chair then sat down in it, not bothering to look at the blonde next to him. He kept his focus on the man currently wearing an owl mask in front of him who had moved to his own seat. On Evan’s desk laid two dark yellow folders, one with a large B and another with a big O, both written in black sharpie. Bryce took the one with the large B and Ryan had no choice but to take the other. 

 

Ryan opened up the folder to find papers on a man in a nice suit that had a beer belly and a shaved head. The picture was taken from the side so he couldn’t figure out a few things but all of the information about the guy had been given to him, so there was no need to worry over simple things like that. He pulled out the file that told him about the guy and his crimes, but Ryan skimmed over it, looking for the main things that were needed. The files stated that he was convicted for murder though it hints that it was paid off, sexual assault, and possible drug possession. Being someone of high power, he had always been able to pay off his crimes and keep a good eye to the public. Ryan was going to continue on but Evan’s voice had interrupted. 

 

“So, the mission for you two is to assassinate the man and take the briefcase. We believe he may have files that prove that he had done those things and that even though he may be dead by that time, he cannot be mourned for as a man who did the best for the public.” Evan stated, receiving firm nods from the two men in front of him. 

 

“Do either of you have questions or is this all?” Evan continued and Ryan shook his head while Bryce stayed still, studying his files. 

 

“Perfect, you may be off then.”

 

////

 

“Don’t hold me back, alright?” Bryce stated as he headed to the passenger side of the red Aventador, Ryan taking the driver side.

 

“As if I would. You’re the one who should watch himself.” Ryan warned as he threw his duffel bag that contained the gun in the back then turned to place the keys in the engine, starting the car up with a roar.

 

“Damn.” They both let out breathlessly, not realizing that the other had said the same thing.

 

“What time is it by the way?” Ryan asked as the garage door opened, letting them drive out of the building and down the long pathway the headed right to the city.

 

“Almost 11, and Evan wanted us by there by 12:30 so we got time.”

 

“That doesn’t mean we should waste it.” Ryan said, keeping his focus on the road.

 

“I never said we were going to waste it.”

 

“Excuse me? You said ‘so we got time’ so I am more than sure you were saying that we have time to goof around.”

 

“I was saying that so you wouldn’t panic you idiot.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“Sorry, do I have to repeat myself for someone as dense as you? Or should I try and dumb it down?”

 

“How about you go fuck yourself?”

 

“Already got your mom-”

 

“Why the fuck was I put on a mission with you?” Ohm said with a groan as he finally arrived at the city road and made a right turn, heading onto the “back road” and finding his way to the main road.

 

“Because he wants us to bond if you couldn’t tell.”

 

“You know what? I will crash this car.”

 

“Do it.” Bryce said with no hesitation and that took Ryan back at first at how willing he was when it came to death but then quickly realized that Bryce had no actual intentions of dying so quickly behind that statement.

 

“You shouldn’t say those things if you truly don’t have meaning behind them.”

 

“Try telling that to a lot of the world then.”

 

“As if the world would listen to me.” 

 

////

 

They had almost arrived at the building and Ryan had realized where they were. They were at City Hall and the fact that there were so many families passing by worried Ryan. They could easily get caught if the wrong move was made and getting caught by the police or worse, shot, was not on his to-do list that day. Maybe it was on Bryce’s, but certainly not Ryan’s.

 

“You going or what?” Bryce asked, gesturing towards the green light. 

 

Ryan silently thanked God that there were no cars behind him to honk at him and make him feel bad so he started to go, looking around for a good parking spot and an even better spot for sniping then getting the briefcase as quickly as possible. 

 

“What spot would you say is best for sniping?” Ryan asked as Bryce then began to look around at the surrounding buildings. 

 

“I would say the building across but to the immediate right of the middle. That one had good coverage but still gives lots of area for aiming.” Ryan nodded, quietly thanking him for the position.

 

They had agreed on the car ride after Bryce’s “Do it” comment on who would be sniping and who would get the briefcase. Because Bryce was faster and in better health, it was agreed that Ryan would snipe and Bryce would quickly get the suitcase then they both would make a beeline towards the car and get the hell out of there. 

 

Ryan parked the car blocks away from City Hall and Bryce set himself up in position while Ryan headed towards the building, the M24 sniper rifle currently packed away in a duffel bag. He headed down the alleyway of the right of the building and saw a ladder heading up to the roof and he once again silently thanked God for making this day easier on him. He climbed up, duffel bag clanging against the ladder only a few times and that didn’t catch any attention. 

 

He crouched on the roof, walking slowly as to not make noise and be caught under suspicion because then again, who would walk on a roof in mid-day light with a duffel bag. It seemed quite suspicious already and he did not need this mission going south after such a lucky day. After arriving at the ledge of the roof, he unzipped his duffel bag and revealed the M24 sniper rifle and unpacked it. He put it back together and brought it back so that anyone who looked up wouldn’t see him.

 

By now, most of the families had cleared out but there were still few passing by here and there, making Ryan irritated with them even though they had no idea that they were ruining a mission, or if they weren’t going to ruin the mission, they would see a dead man fall with blood splatter on the shiny light gray walls and clean tiles of City Hall.

 

He shook his head at the thought of that, wondering if all that time in the car and that morning with Bryce had tainted his mind or if that was just him naturally. A chill ran down his spine at the latter, making him wonder how bad he really was. Sure, he knew he was far from being considered innocent, but he knew he wasn’t the worst. There were a lot more who were worse than him, like Bryce for example. 

 

He shook his head at the thoughts and knew he had to set his mind on this mission and make sure that he gets the shot right on the first try or else he wouldn’t have a next one. He wondered what would happen if he did fail. What would the team say about him? What would Bryce think?

 

He shook his head at the last question, hating that his mind would even care about what Bryce has to say. He was just some random blonde with an attitude that always managed to tick off Ryan. Bryce was someone who should be insignificant to Ryan and someone who Ryan shouldn’t feel concerned about unless he was in grave danger.

 

With a shake of his head once again at the thoughts, he dug into his pocket and pulled out the bandana that the team had given him. The black  **Ω** symbol still looked new as ever and the material felt smooth as if it hadn’t been worn once. The small smile that formed on his lips couldn’t be helped as he thought about the memory of them including him in the “family” and accepting him. He tied the bandana under his ears which then led it to cover every part under his nostrils. 

 

Ryan made his way back to looking through the M24 sniper, waiting what felt like hours for the black smart car to pull up. Ryan’s grip on the gun and trigger had tightened as the man walked out of the car, suitcase in hand. He seemed to be walking alone which made the shooting a bit harder but also much easier. As he walked up the steps, the car pulled away and the finger on the trigger had gotten firmer and much closer to actually pulling it. The next thing that happened was a loud gunshot and the man falling on his stomach. 

 

Ryan rushed to disassemble the gun then put it back in the duffel bag as screams from surrounding citizens emerged, giving Ryan a small heart attack at how loud the screaming had suddenly gotten. He decided to roof jump, deciding that would be the easiest way to avoid eye since everyone had been focused on the dead body.

 

He headed right, knowing that people would expect him to be on the left. After hopping two buildings, he headed down the ladder on a brick apartment and stuffed his mask away and carried his duffel bag calmly, walking down the streets and hoping that he wouldn’t be spotted.

 

Luck was on his side today because he had managed to get to the car with no obstacles, and it seemed like Bryce had the same luck too. He held the briefcase and was leaning against the car, checking his nails like he had been waiting there forever.

 

“Ready?” Ryan asked as he unlocked the car.

 

“Ready.” Bryce replied as he opened the door and threw the briefcase in the back, the duffel bag joining it seconds later.

 

////

 

“You know Ohm, I gotta say good job and thank you.” Bryce said with a grin as they had begun to drive home, taking a back route so they wouldn’t get caught up in that commotion. 

 

“Good job to you too but why thank you?”

 

“Because you murdered my uncle, just like how I asked.” 

  
Ryan kept his eyes focused on driving, letting Bryce's words repeat in his brain. Ryan did not want to believe what Bryce had said was true. The thing he couldn’t believe was that he had gotten Vanoss in on it, if it were true. He was worried about what Vanoss might think of him now. Making a deal with an enemy to win? Weak. Weak.  _ Wea- _

 

“You know Ohm,” Bryce said as he shifted as close as he could to the driver's seat, his mouth right next to Ryan’s ear. “You make such a nice pet. You listen to me, you obey without questions... Maybe we should make more deals.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow i actually updated this fic!!! but i hope you all enjoyed this chapter and sorry if it seems rushed ;w; i write a lot at like 2am and thats usually when im tired and such so i need to get my sleep schedule back in order and actually write when i have energy lmao. anyways, ill see you all in the next chapter, goodbye!

**Author's Note:**

> this is a new story :') it will mostly be brohm but there are background ships as i mentioned w/ minicat. hopefully this story wont get boring too quickly (╯ಊ╰) ive never really written action/fighting so im going to try and get a lot better!! also this chapter was over 3000 words,,, bless up guys. but yes, this chapter was just the story of ohm's past and joining this cool new gang!! anyways ill see you all in the next chapter! also if there's anything i could do to improve my writing for fighting please tell me ill take any constructive criticism!!


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